Abstract
To develop a health promotion program for preventing periodontal disease in a community, a needs assessment was performed at Akitsu-cho, one of the rural towns in Hiroshima Prefecture. The questionnaire composed was based on the PRECEDEHPROCEED model and was used for the assessment. All of the women of age 25 to 54 who resided in the town were involved in the study. The questionnaires were distributed to houses and collected by volunteers from the town. The number of distributed questionnaires was 2,534, and 1,982 (78.2%) were recovered. According to the social assessment, the quality of life in the older age group was low compared to that in the younger age group. An epidemiological assessment showed that the rate of individuals with symptoms of periodontal diseased increased with age. It was shown that those who received regular dental checkups had better health behavior and life styles. Since individuals who satisfied the predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors tended to receive regular dental checkups, these factors should be considered in planning the health education program.
