Associations between dental problems and underweight status among rural women in Burkina Faso: results from the first WHO Stepwise Approach to Surveillance (STEPS) survey

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Résumé

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationships between dental problems and underweight status among rural women in Burkina Faso by using nationally representative data. DESIGN: test, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression. SETTING: All thirteen Burkinabè regions were categorised using quartiles of urbanisation rates. PARTICIPANTS: The participants were 1730 rural women aged 25-64 years. RESULTS: < 0·01) than those without dental problems. More risk factors for underweight were observed in less urbanised regions among elderly individuals (> 49 years old) and smokeless tobacco users. Age > 49 years, professions with inconsistent income, a lack of education, smokeless tobacco use and low BMI were factors that were significantly associated with dental problems, while residency in a low-urbanisation area was a protective factor. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of underweight in rural Burkinabè women is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, and women with dental problems are more frequently affected than those without dental problems. Public health measures for the prevention of these disorders should specifically target women aged over 49 years and smokeless tobacco users.

Mots-clés

Underweight, Medicine, Smokeless tobacco, Descriptive statistics, Logistic regression, Rural area, Environmental health, Demography, Public health, Cross-sectional study, Overweight, Population, Body mass index