Oral health-related quality of life in Hong Kong preschool children.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the impact of early childhood caries (ECC) on the quality of life in a population of preschool children and their families in Hong Kong.

METHODS

A random sample of 1,296 Chinese preschool children participated in the survey and were subjected to an oral examination for their ECC status by 2 trained examiners. The parents were asked to respond to the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) and an extra set of questions concerning their sociodemographic background.

RESULTS

The final data analysis included 1,261 children with a mean (±SD) age of 3.9 ± 0.66 years. The prevalence figures for ECC and severe ECC were 19.9 and 15.2%, respectively. Decayed teeth were found in 34.3% of the children while only 5.2% had filled teeth. The mean (±SD) dmft in this group of children was 1.5 ± 2.98. Higher ECOHIS scores were found in parents with lower education or income level, or with children who were born in mainland China (p < 0.05), or with children who had decayed, missing, or filled teeth (p < 0.001). In multiple regression analyses, decayed teeth and filled teeth in primary dentition were the better predictors (p < 0.001) of the ECOHIS score among the various parent and child characteristics collected in this survey.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study showed that parents of young children with dental caries experience perceived that both the children and other family members had poorer quality of life.