Task a

PRELIMINARY REPORT

TASK A

TITLE OF THE PAPER

The Influence of Family Income Trajectories from Birth to Adulthood on Adult Oral Health: Findings From the 1982 Pelatos Birth Cohort

RATIONAL BEHIND CHOSEN PAPER

The rationale behind selecting this paper is that

* The paper uses descriptive statistics to assess each of the three hypotheses.

* The paper gives a practical application of Pearsons and use of P values. It will enable me to better understand the theory behind these as well as their practical application.

OBJECTIVE OF THE PAPER

* The paper aims to assess 3 hypotheses with respect to oral health. It uses 3 parameters of socioeconomic status namely critical period, accumulation of risk and social mobility and assesses their impact on unsound teeth in adulthood among a Brazilian cohort.

HYPOTHESES DISCUSSED IN THE PAPER

The paper discusses the relationship between adults’ socioeconomic position and their oral health. The paper takes up 3 factors of socioeconomic position i.e. critical period, accumulation of risk and social mobility.

The paper discusses 3 hypotheses with respect to the oral health.

1. Assessment of effect of critical period on number of unsound teeth at the age of 24

Critical period is the early stage of development of an infant. One theory proposes that during a critical period of development in early life, exposures to deprivation have long-term effects on adult health, independent of adult circumstances.

2. Assessment of effect of accumulation of risk on number of unsound teeth

Intensity and duration of exposure to unfavourable or favourable physical and social environments throughout life affect health status in a dose–response relationship; this has been termed the accumulation-of-risk hypothesis

3. Assessment of effect of social mobility on the number of unsound teeth

Social mobility hypothesis, postulates that the importance of the early life environment lies in its effect on the...