Evaluation of periodontitis patients according to the Health Protective Behaviors Scale

Background: Understanding and maintaining the link between oral and general health is vital. This research aimed to determine the significance of behavior in assessing potential risk factors for periodontitis and evaluate individuals using the Health Protective Behaviors Scale (HPBS). Methods: One hundred and four periodontitis patients and 107 periodontally healthy individuals with no difference in age and gender distribution answered the questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS 25. The normality assumption was checked by the Shapiro-Wilk test. The Mann-Whitney U test compared two independent groups without normal distribution. The KruskalWallis test was used to compare three or more independent groups without normal distribution. The post hoc Bonferroni test was used to determine the group or groups that created the difference. Spearman’s correlation was used to measure the link between continuous variables and non-normal distribution. Results: The scores of the HPBS in all its dimensions in people without periodontitis were higher than those of people with periodontitis (P<0.001). Women’s scores were higher than men’s in general and nutritional behavior, health care, and selfknowledge dimensions (P<0.001). The scores of people aged 66 years and above were higher than those of other age groups regarding the general and nutritional behaviors dimension (P<0.001). Conclusion: Individuals have good knowledge of some attitudes that can cause periodontitis as age increases. However, knowledge of the links between periodontal diseases and behavioral attitudes is still lacking.