Table 4.

Symmetrized Theil Index for disparities in the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease among U.S. adults 20 years of age and older for selected sociodemographic characteristics: NHANES III (1988–1994) and NHANES 1999–2004

^aWith the exception of the overall STI for the mean pocket depth and CAL, the STI is the between-group STI for the characteristics presented.

^bDesign-based standard errors computed via Taylor series linearization were used for the CIs.

^cThe percent is the proportion of the overall STI corresponding to its between-group component.

^dStatistically significant pairwise comparisons of STI between surveys for prevalence of periodontal diseases and mean pocket depth and CAL for the overall and each variable indices

^ep<0.01

^fp<0.05

^gp<0.001

^hThe STI calculations for mean CAL are conditional on CAL >0.

NHANES = National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

STI = Symmetrized Theil Index

CI = confidence interval

NA = not applicable

mm = millimeters

CAL = clinical attachment loss