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Abstract
Few studies distinguish between the effects of different forms of social capital on
health and of those that do none use physical indicators of health as an outcome variable.
The objective of this study was to determine whether vertical and horizontal social
capital had different associations with dental status of elderly Japanese. In this
cross-sectional study, self-administered questionnaires were mailed to elderly individuals
living in 25 Japanese communities in 2003. Data from 5560 respondents (49.9%, 72.9+/-6.0
years) included information on social capital, numbers of remaining teeth, health
behaviors, physical and mental health, and socioeconomic status. Vertical social capital
was defined as participating in groups which encouraged hierarchical relations and
horizontal social capital as participating in groups of equals. A multilevel logistic
regression analysis was conducted to assess the association between social capital
and number of remaining teeth (< or = 19 teeth or > or = 20 teeth). The prevalence
of people with 19 or less teeth was 70.7%. Univariate analysis showed significant
beneficial associations between individual horizontal social capital and number of
remaining teeth. After adjusting for individual- and community-level covariates in
multilevel analysis, community-level horizontal social capital still showed beneficial
association. Compared to respondents living in highest horizontal social capital areas,
those living in lowest horizontal social capital areas had a 1.25 times higher odds
ratio for having 19 or less teeth. Individual-level horizontal social capital also
showed beneficial effects on number of remaining teeth. Community- and individual-level
vertical social capital did not show significant associations with dental status.
The results suggest that horizontal social capital, not vertical social capital, has
beneficial effects on numbers of remaining teeth in older Japanese adults.