Oral health literacy and oral cancer knowledge of the caregiver of older adults at the nursing homes in Jakarta, Indonesia

Oral Health Literacy (OHL) and oral cancer awareness on older adult caregivers at nursing homes have not been widely explored. Analyze the sociodemographic factors related to OHL and oral cancer knowledge on the older adult caregiver of nursing homes in Jakarta. A cross-sectional study on older adult caregivers on six public nursing homes under the government Jakarta management. Previously validated Health Literacy in Dentistry Indonesian version (HeLD-ID) and oral cancer knowledge questionnaires were used. Differences in sociodemographic factors on HeLD-ID and oral cancer knowledge were analyzed, and the statistical significance level was set at p<0.05. The mean of the total HeLD-ID score was 3.08±0.65. The Understanding domain had the highest score with a mean of 3.44±0.78. The HeLD-ID score was not significantly differed by age, gender, occupation, smoking habit, drinking alcohol, chewing tobacco and betel (p>0.05), but significantly differed by level of education and dental visit (p<0.05). A high percentage of poor oral cancer knowledge was seen in the group of females, age 25-44 years old, middle-level education, and level of contact. However, the level of the oral cancer knowledge was not differed by sociodemographic factors (gender, age, education, and occupation), habits (smoking, chewing tobacco, betel and drinking alcohol), and dental visit (p>0.05). These results suggest that efforts for improving OHL and oral cancer awareness are necessary for the population group.