Qiu Rong Min, Lo Edward C M, Zhi Qing Hui, Zhou Yan, Tao Ye, Lin Huan Cai
Department of Preventive Dentistry, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-sen University, 56 Ling Yuan Road West, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province 510055, China.
BMC Public Health. 2014 Oct 15;14:1071. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-1071.
Dental caries among preschool children is highly prevalent in many less-developed countries.
A model which explored the factors related to children's dental caries was tested in this study using structural equation modeling. Caregivers of children aged 5 years were surveyed on their socioeconomic status, and their oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices. In addition, information on their children's oral health practices, dental insurance and dental service utilization were collected. Examination of caries was conducted on all children who returned fully completed questionnaires.
The results showed that socioeconomic factors influenced children's oral health practices through the impact of caregivers' oral health knowledge and practices; that caregivers' oral health knowledge affected children's oral health practices through the influence of caregivers' oral health attitudes and practices; and finally, that children's oral health practices were linked directly to their caries.
The findings have important applications for promoting policies aimed at advancing children's oral health.
在许多欠发达国家，学龄前儿童龋齿的患病率很高。
本研究使用结构方程模型测试了一个探索与儿童龋齿相关因素的模型。对5岁儿童的看护人进行了调查，了解他们的社会经济状况以及他们的口腔健康知识、态度和行为。此外，还收集了有关他们孩子的口腔健康行为、牙科保险和牙科服务利用情况的信息。对所有返回完整填写问卷的儿童进行了龋齿检查。
结果表明，社会经济因素通过看护人的口腔健康知识和行为的影响来影响儿童的口腔健康行为；看护人的口腔健康知识通过看护人的口腔健康态度和行为的影响来影响儿童的口腔健康行为；最后，儿童的口腔健康行为与他们的龋齿直接相关。
这些发现对于推动旨在促进儿童口腔健康的政策具有重要应用价值。
