Exposure to famine in early childhood increases the risk of edentulism: results 1 from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

Background: A severe famine occurred in China from 1958-1960, and it had a considerable impact on the population's health. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of early childhood famine on edentulism. Methods: We used data from 8209 adults surveyed between 2011 and 2012 as collected by the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Logistic regression was used to analyse the odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) of early starvation and edentulism. Results: Compared with unexposed individuals, famine-exposed individuals had a significantly increased risk of edentulism. The ORs (95% CIs) were as follows: 2.718 (1.435, 5.368) for the foetal exposure group, 4.663 (2.740, 8.571) for the preschool group, and 8.830 (5.287, 16.022) for the school-age exposure group. After adjustment for age, sex, and location, the ORs (95% CIs) were 2.098 (1.052, 4.340) for the foetal exposure group, 2.751 (1.311, 6.003) for the preschool group, and 4.198 (1.739, 10.410) for the school-age exposure group. Following further adjustments for model 2 plus severity, income, education, smoking, drinking, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, and heart disease, the final ORs (95% CIs) were 2.097 (1.047, 4.355) for the foetal exposure group, 2.625 (1.245, 5.746) for the preschool group, and 3.907 (1.608, 9.726) for the school-age exposure group. Conclusions: Early exposure to famine leads to increased risk of edentulism.