scholarly journals Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Nursing and Technical Students in Croatia

Author(s):  
Tomislav Cabov ◽  
Ksenija Eljuga ◽  
Petra Nola Fuchs ◽  
Maja Kinkela Devcic ◽  
Jelena Prpic ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The aim of this study is to test knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of the students from the Bjelovar University of Applied Sciences in relation to oral health, and to determine the respectable differences between students of nursing and technical study programs. Participants and Methods Students were randomly selected to represent a convenient sample. A total of 140 students from nursing and technical studies were interviewed by using the World health organization Oral Health Questionnaire, adapted to fit the study purposes. Statistical Analysis Descriptive statistics were used to determine frequency distribution and percentages for all variables. Pearson’s Chi-square test was used to compare the proportions. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results The distribution of participants regarding gender was significantly different between the study programs (p = 0.000). Significant difference was also observed in their perceived socioeconomic status (p = 0.001). A significant difference was found between the study programs regarding the knowledge whether bad teeth could impair general health (p = 0.001), could tooth decay and periodontal disease may be prevented (p = 0.002), as well as the importance of regular dental check-ups for prevention of tooth decay (p = 0.028). There were significant differences regarding dietary habits and alcohol consumption in the past 30 days between the observed study programs (p = 0.000) while no significant differences were found regarding tobacco and tobacco product use (p = 0.170). Conclusion Results obtained and presented in this paper show better knowledge and more favorable habits and behaviors among the students from nursing study program compared with the technical ones. Still all students’ habits should be changed to improve oral health. To change attitudes and influence habits, effective oral health promotion programs are needed; not only in colleges, but also in primary and secondary schools.

Author(s):  
Yaswitha Jampani ◽  
Deepika Kandukuri ◽  
B Vikram Simha ◽  
Asha Lodagala ◽  
Namratha Kasarnenivi

Aim: To compare the oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior among pre-clinical and clinical undergraduate dental students. Methodology: A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted among pre-clinical and clinical undergraduate students at a teaching dental institution in Andhra Pradesh.A total of 357students were selected using non- probability purposive sampling technique. Modified English version of Hiroshima University Dental Behavior Inventory (HU-DBI) Questionnaire consisting of 31 closed ended questions has been implemented in this study after performing appropriate psychometric analysis. Results:Knowledge, attitude and behavior differences between preclinical and clinical students were analyzed by Student’s t-testand statistically significant difference was obtained with p value of 0.004.Chi- square test was employed for dichotomous datai.e. to find the differences in the distribution of "yes" among students from the different academic year as well as between male and female students.Majority of females (86.3%) have responded that they don’t use tooth brush with hard bristles for cleaning their teeth which is high when compared to males (73.4%) and the difference is statistically significant (p=0.01). There is also a statistically significant difference with respect to smoking habits between males and females (p=0.003). CONCLUSION: The outcome of this study shows clinical students having higher oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior scoresthan preclinical students and also the self-reported quality of overall oral health behavior was more pronounced in clinical students.Specific educational and awarenessprograms should be planned for the preclinical students. Keywords: Dental students, Oral health knowledge, Oral health behavior,Oral health education.


Medicina ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Siddharthan Selvaraj ◽  
Nyi Nyi Naing ◽  
Nadiah Wan-Arfah ◽  
Mohmed Isaqali Karobari ◽  
Anand Marya ◽  
...  

Background and objectives: The Indian population faces numerous challenges to attain better oral hygiene due to a lack of oral health literacy. For the past 10 years, the prevalence of dental-related conditions in India has become a considerable problem in every state of India. A health-education-based oral health promotion strategy will be an ideal choice for the Indian population instead of endorsing conventional oral health promotion. The use of unsuitable tools to measure may lead to misleading and vague findings that might result in a flawed plan for cessation programs and deceitful effectiveness. Therefore, the research aimed to develop and validate an instrument that can assess the oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior (KAB) of adults in India. Materials and Methods: This study was carried among adults in India, who live in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. A questionnaire was fabricated and then validated using content, face, as well as construct. The knowledge domain was validated using item response theory analysis (IRT), whereas exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to validate the behavior domain and attitude. Results: Four principal sections, i.e., knowledge, attitude, demography and behavior, were used to fabricate a questionnaire following validation. Following analysis of item response theory on the knowledge domain, all analyzed items in the domain were within the ideal range of difficulty and discrimination. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.65 for the attitude and 0.66 for the behavior domain. A Bartlett’s test of sphericity was conducted and demonstrated that outcomes for both domains were highly significant (p < 0.001). The factor analysis resulted in three factors with a total of eight items in the attitude domain and three factors with a total of seven items in the behavior domain depicting satisfactory factor loading (>0.3). Across the three factors, i.e., knowledge, attitude and behavior, internal consistency reliability was tested using Cronbach’s alpha, and the values obtained were 0.67, 0.87, 0.67, and 0.88, respectively. Conclusions: The findings of this study that assessed validity and reliability showed that the developed questionnaire had an acceptable psychometric property for measuring oral health KAB among adults in India.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (01) ◽  
pp. 043-048 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Jagan ◽  
Nusrath Fareed ◽  
Hemanth Battur ◽  
Sanjeev Khanagar ◽  
Bhat Manohar

ABSTRACT Objective: To measure conceptual oral health knowledge among school teachers using comprehensive measure of oral health knowledge (CMOHK) instrument. Materials and Methods: A total of 240 school teachers drawn through cluster random sampling from across Sullia taluk. Conceptual knowledge was assessed using Comprehensive measure of oral health knowledge questionnaire. Oral health status was recorded on a World Health Organization oral health assessment Proforma. Results: Overall distribution of CMOHK scores revealed that 106(44%) subjects had good conceptual oral health knowledge, 81(33.7%) subjects had fair and 53(22%) subjects were categorized under poor conceptual knowledge respectively. Statistically significant difference was observed for mean scores for conceptual knowledge in relation to gender (12.8v/s 15.3), in terms of type of school teachers (14.4 v/s 11.2) and in relation to age of the subjects. Primary school teachers exhibited a consistently better CMOHK scores 0.003(0.001-0.011) compared to their high school counterparts 0.003(0.001-0.012). Conclusion: The mean CMOHK score of this group was 12.5±1.3 and is considered to be fair. There is an inverse association between age, educational levels and income in relation to CMOHK scores.


Author(s):  
Prenisha Neupaul ◽  
Ozayr Mahomed

Introduction: Oral health knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of parents have a direct influence on their child&rsquo;s oral health maintenance, dietary habits and encourage healthy behaviors. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, and attitude of parents with regards to the oral health practice of their children and its associated factors. Methods: A self -administered structured questionnaire was administered to parents or guardians of learners aged 5 to 12 years at a low socio-economic rural primary school in the uGu district, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa to collect demographic variables, knowledge of dental health, use of toothbrush, use of toothpaste, dietary practices and dental visits; practice with respect to dental care and attitudes towards oral health. The questionnaire was translated from English to IsiZulu was used. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to assess the association between parent&rsquo;s sociodemographic factors with their oral health knowledge and practice scores. Results: One hundred and forty four completed survey instruments were received with an eighty percent (118) representation of mothers. Ninety five percent of the parents (136) had a positive attitude towards oral health with 86% (124) of the children brushed their tongue and 89% (128) of the children brushed their teeth happily. The mean knowledge score was 70% with a median of 72%. Children were significantly more likely to brush their tongues (AOR: 3.20 95% CI: 1.06-9.66) and were more likely to be happier when brushing their teeth (AOR: 4.65 95% CI: 1.41-15.38) when the caregivers were their mothers, and when parents had an above average knowledge score (AOR: 1.86 95% CI: 0.72-4.85) and had positive attitudes (AOR: 3.20 95%CI: 0.46-22.00). Conclusion: To reduce the gaps in knowledge, oral health promotion should be integrated into all point of care contact with parents at health facilities, increased community awareness and advertising campaigns as well as a more focused school health oral program that addresses primary prevention, screening and appropriate referrals to health facilities


Author(s):  
Anju Khapung ◽  
G. Nagaraja Rao ◽  
Sujita Shrestha

Introduction: According to World Health Organization, oral health means the retention throughout life of a functional, aesthetic and natural dentition of not less than 20 teeth and not requiring a prosthesis. The major reasons for tooth loss are dental caries and periodontal disease. Proper understanding of reasons for tooth loss helps to improve oral health. Objective: To identify the reasons and patterns of permanent teeth loss among patients attending Kantipur Dental College. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 403 patients aged 18 years and above attending Kantipur Dental College, Kathmandu by convenience sampling method. Data was collected through structured questionnaire and clinical examination and was analysed using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 403 patients were examined of which 38% had tooth loss. Mean number of tooth loss was 2.99+3.44. Statistically significant difference was found in mean tooth loss between age groups and levels of education (P value < 0.001). Dental caries was the most common reason of tooth loss followed by periodontal disease. Most common reason for not saving the tooth was "tooth cannot be saved" (65.1%). Mandibular molars accounted for majority of tooth loss followed by maxillary molars. Conclusion: The results of the present study show that dental caries was the major cause of tooth loss irrespective of the age group. It points out the need to carry out oral health awareness and other preventive programs both at school and community levels.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  

Background: Parents/ caregivers oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviors can either facilitate or hinder their child’s oral health care or oral heath promoting behaviors. The perspective of parents/caregivers has a significant bearing on the oral health, particularly for the disabled children. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior towards oral health care among of parents/ caregivers of children with disabilities and to evaluate the association between education level and oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviors. Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire based, descriptive study was carried out among parents/ caregivers of children with disabilities, who attended 8 Special Needs schools in Doha, Qatar. Data was analyzed using Spearman’s test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Majority of the parents/caregivers knew that oral health affects general health and recognized that inadequate tooth brushing caused tooth decay. The mean knowledge, attitude and behavior scores were 7.81, 3.61 and 2.91 respectively. Highly significant correlation was found between parents’/ caregivers’ knowledge and attitude (p<. 001) as well as parents’/caregivers’ knowledge and behavior (p<. 004). Knowledge, attitude and behavior scores were significantly associated with education level. Conclusion: Parents/caregivers of children with disabilities possess good oral health knowledge, very positive attitude and favorable behavior towards their child’s oral health. Education plays an essential role in shaping their knowledge, behavior and attitude with regard to their child’s oral health care and should be taken into consideration while designing Oral Health Promotion programs.


Author(s):  
Yufitri Mayasari ◽  
Belanita Belanita ◽  
Elin Hertiana

COVID-19 has presents unprecedent challenge in many aspects of dentistry include oral health promotion. Oral health promotion is recognized an essential component to prevent the oral disease during pandemic. As we know, dental caries is the most common dental and oral health problem suffered by children due to behaviour of maintaining oral health which is often ignored and based on poor knowledge. One way to change the behaviour is through health education using the right media or tool to make it more effective and efficient. Research objectives are to explain knowledge disparity of dental and oral health among students before and after education video game. Pre experiment study with one group pretest until post-test design was taken from a sample of fourth-grade students of SDN 03 Pesanggrahan. The sampling technique was total sampling with a sample size of 66 respondents. Kolmogorov Smirnov test was used for normality test and Wilcoxon test was used for analysing the data. The result obtained from the statistical test of the differences in dental and oral health knowledge among students before and after education through a video game was p-value = 0.001.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Tobias ◽  
Assaf B Spanier

BACKGROUND Gingivitis is a non-painful, inflammatory condition that can be treated with home remedies. Left untreated gingivitis can lead to tooth loss. Periodic dental examinations are important for early diagnosis and treatment of gum diseases. In order to contain the spread of the corona virus, governments, including in Israel, have restricted movements of their citizens which has caused routine dental checkups to be postponed. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the ability of an mHealth app- iGAM to reduce gingivitis. METHODS A prospective observational cohort study was performed, 160 unpaid participants were divided into 2 equal groups and downloaded the iGAM app. Group 1 photographed their gums weekly for eight weeks. Group 2 photographed their gums at the time of recruitment and 8 weeks later. After photo submission, the participants received the message "It is recommended to read the information contained within the app regarding maintaining oral hygiene habits". A single blinded researcher examined the images and scored them according to the Modified Gingival Index (MGI). RESULTS The average age of group 1 was 26.77 (S.D. ± 7.43), and 28.53 (S.D. ± 10.44) for group 2. The majority were male (74.7% in group 1 vs. 66.7% in group 2), most participants described themselves as "secular", most were "single", non-smokers (74.7% vs. 78.4%) and did not take medications (85.3% vs. 78.4%). 126 subjects completed the study. A statistically significant difference (P <.001) was found in the dependent variable (MGI) in a linearly negative manner. As time passed, the gum condition improved, there were significantly lower gingivitis scores in group 1 (M = 1.16, S.D. ± 1.18) compared to group 2 (M = 2.16, S.D. ± 1.49), after eight weeks. Those with more recent dental visits had a lower MGI (p = .037). No association was found between knowledge and behavior, most participants were familiar with the recommendations for maintaining oral health, yet they only performed some. CONCLUSIONS A dental selfie taken once a week using an mHealth app (iGAM) reduced the signs of gingivitis and promoted oral health. During the current pandemic where social distancing recommendations may be causing people to avoid dental clinics, this app can remotely promote gum health. CLINICALTRIAL The protocol was approved by Hadassah research ethics committee (IRB, 0212-18-HMO)


Author(s):  
Angela G Brega ◽  
Rachel L Johnson ◽  
Sarah J Schmiege ◽  
Anne R Wilson ◽  
Luohua Jiang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Health literacy (HL) is the “ability to find, understand, evaluate and put information to use to improve decision making and, ultimately, improve health and quality of life.” Parents with limited HL are less likely to follow recommended parental oral health behaviors. Purpose We tested a theoretical framework designed to clarify mechanisms through which HL may influence parental oral health behavior. The framework proposed that HL: (a) has a direct effect on parental oral health knowledge, beliefs (i.e. self-efficacy; perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits, barriers), and behavior; (b) influences beliefs indirectly through knowledge; and (c) influences behavior indirectly through knowledge and beliefs. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional data from a randomized controlled trial designed to reduce dental decay in American Indian children (N = 521). Parents completed survey questions assessing sociodemographic characteristics, HL, and parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behavior. Path analysis was used to test the framework. Results HL exerted significant direct effects on knowledge and beliefs but not behavior. HL had significant indirect effects on all beliefs through knowledge. Significant indirect effects of HL on behavior occurred through self-efficacy (estimate: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.42, 1.83, p = .005), perceived barriers (estimate: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.29, 1.43, p = .010), knowledge to self-efficacy (estimate: 0.57, 95% CI: .31, 0.98, p = .001), and knowledge to perceived barriers (estimate: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.47, p = .012). Conclusions HL exerted an indirect effect on parental oral health behavior, with knowledge, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers being the primary constructs linking HL to behavior.


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