Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding oral health among the rural government primary school teachers of Mangalore, India.

PURPOSE

This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding oral health among the Rural Government Primary school teachers of Mangalore, Karnataka, India.

METHODS

A self-administered close ended questionnaire consisting of 16 items was distributed among the rural primary school teachers of Mangalore (n=165). Comparison of knowledge and attitude amongst the 3 age groups was done with Kruskal Wallis test. Comparison of mean scores between the genders was done using Mann-Whitney-U test. Comparison of mean scores across four educational qualification groups was done using Kruskal Wallis test.

RESULTS

Out of 165 primary school teachers to whom the questionnaires were sent, 153 responded, yielding a 92.7% response rate. Results showed that significant difference (p<0.01) was seen across the 3 age groups for the mean practice scores. There was significant difference between the genders with females scoring better for the mean knowledge, practice and the total scores. Educational qualification did not make any significant difference in the knowledge and practice on oral health.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that oral health knowledge was lacking among the primary school teachers of rural Mangalore, although practices were satisfactory. Oral health education program targeting only the teachers is of utmost importance in the light of the present study results.