Sohn Woosung, Taichman L Susan, Ismail Amid I, Reisine Susan
Department of Oral Health and Diagnostics Sciences, Division of Behavioral Sciences and Community Health, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich, USA.
Pediatr Dent. 2008 Nov-Dec;30(6):480-7.
This study aimed to: (1) compare caregivers' perceptions of their children's oral health status with clinical findings; and (2) investigate the influence of caregivers' attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge concerning dental caries development and oral health on caregivers' perception levels of their children's oral health status.
A representative sample of low-income African American families (0- to 5-year-olds and their caregivers) in Detroit, Mich was interviewed. Caregivers were asked to assess their own and their children's oral health status. All children and their caregivers received dental examinations. This study included data from 885 caregivers with children aged 1 year or older.
Approximately 79% of caregivers rated their children's oral health as good to excellent, and 21% rated it as fair to poor. Caregivers' perception of their children's oral health was significantly associated with their children's caries experience, as measured by the number of decayed, missing, and filled tooth surfaces. It was also associated with limitations of oral functions, such as chewing difficulty. Poorer perceptions of caregivers' oral health and fatalistic attitudes toward children's oral health were significantly associated with poorer perception of their children's oral health.
Caregivers' perception of their children's oral health status is a significant indicator of the children's clinical caries experience.
本研究旨在：（1）比较照料者对其子女口腔健康状况的认知与临床检查结果；（2）调查照料者关于龋齿发展和口腔健康的态度、信念及知识对其对子女口腔健康状况认知水平的影响。
对密歇根州底特律市低收入非裔美国家庭（0至5岁儿童及其照料者）的一个代表性样本进行了访谈。要求照料者评估他们自己及子女的口腔健康状况。所有儿童及其照料者均接受了牙科检查。本研究纳入了885名子女年龄在1岁及以上的照料者的数据。
约79%的照料者将其子女的口腔健康评为良好至优秀，21%评为一般至较差。照料者对其子女口腔健康的认知与子女的龋齿经历显著相关，龋齿经历通过龋坏、缺失和充填牙面的数量来衡量。它还与口腔功能受限有关，如咀嚼困难。照料者对自身口腔健康的较差认知以及对子女口腔健康的宿命论态度与对其子女口腔健康的较差认知显著相关。
照料者对其子女口腔健康状况的认知是儿童临床龋齿经历的一个重要指标。
