Burnett Delia, Aronson Jane, Asgary Ramin
Last Mile Health, New York, NY, USA.
Worldwide Orphans Foundation, Maplewood, NJ, USA.
J Child Health Care. 2016 Jun;20(2):252-61. doi: 10.1177/1367493515569328. Epub 2015 Feb 23.
Data on oral health status in Ethiopia are scarce. We assessed the prevalence of dental decay and gum disease and oral health practices and its barriers. We performed a cross-sectional study using comprehensive questionnaires and oral examination of 132 children aged 6-15 years in Addis Ababa. Mean age was 10 years and 50% were females. A significant number of children were HIV positive and orphaned. Forty-eight percent did not brush teeth and 43% brushed only once daily. The majority consumed sugary food despite knowing its relationship with dental decay. Seventy-four percent had between 1 and 13 dental caries and 52% showed evidence of bleeding upon brushing. Seventy-eight percent did not clean between teeth and were more likely to consume sugary food (p < 0.05) with oral pain within past six months (p < 0.01). In logistic regression, bleeding upon brushing and caries were not predicted by age or gender. We provided oral health trainings with illustrative flip-book, games and interactive discussions. Marginalized children suffer from poor oral health. We recommend national oral health strategies, targeted health education tailored towards Ethiopian societal norms and resources, improving access to local preventive tools and provision of oral care by training community health workers in the World Health Organization basic oral care package.
埃塞俄比亚口腔健康状况的数据匮乏。我们评估了龋齿和牙龈疾病的患病率、口腔健康习惯及其障碍因素。我们在亚的斯亚贝巴对132名6至15岁的儿童进行了横断面研究，采用了综合问卷和口腔检查。平均年龄为10岁，50%为女性。相当数量的儿童是艾滋病毒阳性和孤儿。48%的儿童不刷牙，43%的儿童每天只刷一次牙。尽管大多数儿童知道含糖食物与龋齿的关系，但仍食用此类食物。74%的儿童有1至13颗龋齿，52%的儿童刷牙时牙龈出血。78%的儿童不清洁牙缝，且更有可能食用含糖食物（p<0.05），在过去六个月内有口腔疼痛（p<0.01）。在逻辑回归分析中，刷牙时牙龈出血和龋齿情况无法通过年龄或性别预测。我们提供了配有说明性活页手册、游戏和互动讨论的口腔健康培训。边缘化儿童的口腔健康状况较差。我们建议制定国家口腔健康战略，根据埃塞俄比亚的社会规范和资源开展有针对性的健康教育，增加获取当地预防工具的机会，并通过培训社区卫生工作者提供世界卫生组织基本口腔护理包中的口腔护理服务。
