Socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with odontogenic infection types among hospitalised patients in Periurban Ghana
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Public Health, School of Public Health and Allied Sciences, Catholic University of Ghana, Fiapre, Ghana
- 2Sunyani Teaching Hospital, Sunyani, Ghana
- 3Department of Health Policy, Management and Economics, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
- 4Department of Health Information Management, School of Allied Health Sciences, College of Health and Allied Health Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
Abstract
Background: Odontogenic infections may progress to life-threatening complications if not managed promptly, and socioeconomic circumstances have been linked to their presentation, particularly where access to dental care is limited. Because every patient studied was already hospitalised, this analysis addresses the clinical type of infection at presentation, not the risk of developing one. Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional review of hospital records was undertaken at the Allied Ward of Sunyani Teaching Hospital (January 2021 to January 2025). Of 811 consecutive admissions, 525 were excluded: 509 for non-odontogenic conditions and 16 for records missing more than 30% of required clinical fields, leaving 286 complete records. Chi-square tests were reported with Cramer’s V and Monte Carlo exact p-values where cells were sparse. Because the unpenalised model showed quasi-complete separation, the primary analysis was a Firth-penalised multinomial logistic regression, with abscess as the reference outcome. Results: Adjusting for age, sex, employment, residence, recorded oral hygiene, systemic comorbidity and alcohol use, unemployment was associated with higher adjusted odds of Ludwig’s angina (LA) and not abscess (AOR = 2.78, 95% CI 1.27–6.09), and rural residence with necrotizing fasciitis (NF; AOR = 3.62, 95% CI 1.33–9.80). Systemic comorbidity was associated with LA (AOR = 4.14, 95% CI 1.83–9.36), NF (AOR = 8.72, 95% CI 2.95–25.75) and cellulitis (AOR = 2.07, 95% CI 1.03–4.18). Absence of a recorded poor-hygiene entry was associated with cellulitis (AOR = 8.05, 95% CI 2.42–26.83), interpreted as a documentation artefact not a protective effect. Sex and alcohol use showed no association. Number of children, the sole source of separation, was not retained; its penalised intervals included 1. Conclusion: Unemployment and systemic comorbidity were associated with more severe presentations, and rural residence with NF specifically. Findings are associational and describe variation in infection type among admitted patients rather than infection risk, within a retrospective single-centre design.
Related
- Tracing socioeconomic change and emerging elites in 4th–3rd century BCE: Metalwork from the Amber Road Corridor
- Targeting the Helicobacter pylori–Gastric Cancer Axis with Nanomaterials: From Infection Control to Tumor-Directed Therapy
- Self-Transforming Antibiofilm Polyurethane Copolymers with Arginine-Mimetic Cationic Activity for Infection-Resistant Implants
- Guanidine-quaternary ammonium polymer-derived carbon dots differentially modulate bacterial respiration and osteoblast mitochondria to resolve infection and foster osteointegration.
- Serial‐Passage Assessment Shows No Confirmed Resistance Development to Norway Spruce (Picea Abies) Resin in Bacterial Species Relevant to Wound Infection
BibTeX
@article{boadu2026socioeconomic,
title = {{Socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with odontogenic infection types among hospitalised patients in Periurban Ghana}},
author = {Kwame Adu Okyere Boadu and Lydia Sarponmaa Asante and Paul Frimpong and Elijah Kwegyir Johnson and Victor Wireko Adu and Richard Okyere Boadu},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0360737},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360737},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Socioeconomic and clinical factors associated with odontogenic infection types among hospitalised patients in Periurban Ghana
AU - Kwame Adu Okyere Boadu
AU - Lydia Sarponmaa Asante
AU - Paul Frimpong
AU - Elijah Kwegyir Johnson
AU - Victor Wireko Adu
AU - Richard Okyere Boadu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0360737
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360737
AB - Background: Odontogenic infections may progress to life-threatening complications if not managed promptly, and socioeconomic circumstances have been linked to their presentation, particularly where access to dental care is limited. Because every patient studied was already hospitalised, this analysis addresses the clinical type of infection at presentation, not the risk of developing one. Methodology: A retrospective cross-sectional review of hospital records was undertaken at the Allied Ward of Sunyani Teaching Hospital (January 2021 to January 2025). Of 811 consecutive admissions, 525 were excluded: 509 for non-odontogenic conditions and 16 for records missing more than 30% of required clinical fields, leaving 286 complete records. Chi-square tests were reported with Cramer’s V and Monte Carlo exact p-values where cells were sparse. Because the unpenalised model showed quasi-complete separation, the primary analysis was a Firth-penalised multinomial logistic regression, with abscess as the reference outcome. Results: Adjusting for age, sex, employment, residence, recorded oral hygiene, systemic comorbidity and alcohol use, unemployment was associated with higher adjusted odds of Ludwig’s angina (LA) and not abscess (AOR = 2.78, 95% CI 1.27–6.09), and rural residence with necrotizing fasciitis (NF; AOR = 3.62, 95% CI 1.33–9.80). Systemic comorbidity was associated with LA (AOR = 4.14, 95% CI 1.83–9.36), NF (AOR = 8.72, 95% CI 2.95–25.75) and cellulitis (AOR = 2.07, 95% CI 1.03–4.18). Absence of a recorded poor-hygiene entry was associated with cellulitis (AOR = 8.05, 95% CI 2.42–26.83), interpreted as a documentation artefact not a protective effect. Sex and alcohol use showed no association. Number of children, the sole source of separation, was not retained; its penalised intervals included 1. Conclusion: Unemployment and systemic comorbidity were associated with more severe presentations, and rural residence with NF specifically. Findings are associational and describe variation in infection type among admitted patients rather than infection risk, within a retrospective single-centre design.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -