Halawany Hassan Suliman, Al Badr Abid, Al Sadhan Salwa, Al Balkhi Mashaiel, Al-Maflehi Nassr, Abraham Nimmi Biju, Jacob Vimal, Al Sherif Gehan
Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dental Caries Research Chair, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Dent J. 2018 Jul;30(3):190-196. doi: 10.1016/j.sdentj.2018.04.001. Epub 2018 May 4.
This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of oral health intervention on the improvement in knowledge and self-reported oral health behavior among 6-8 year old female primary school children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The sample consisted of 1661 girls in primary schools who are 6 to 8-year-olds (first, second and third graders). The children's level of knowledge was assessed by a self-administered questionnaire that was formulated for this specific age and divided into two parts; oral health knowledge and self-reported oral health behavior. There were seven multiple choice questions and one true/false question with five underlying parts in the questionnaire which contained basic information about oral health knowledge, oral hygiene practices and certain habits that affect teeth. The questionnaires were distributed before and six weeks after implementation of the oral health educational program to measure the level improvement of knowledge regarding oral health among these children.
All the questions showed statistically significant improvement in knowledge and self-reported behavior in the post intervention group. There was a significant increase in the level of knowledge by 11.24% and level of self-reported behavior by 25% after intervention (P < 0.001). The highest net change in the knowledge due to intervention was noted among third graders (13.3%), whereas for self-reported oral health behavior, it was noted among first graders (28.3%).
The results of this study showed that an easy-to-organize and inexpensive school-based intervention can, on a short-term basis, be effective in improving the knowledge and self-reported oral health behavior of children.
本研究旨在检验口腔健康干预对沙特阿拉伯利雅得6至8岁小学女童口腔健康知识改善及自我报告的口腔健康行为的有效性。
样本包括1661名6至8岁的小学女生（一年级、二年级和三年级）。通过一份针对该特定年龄段编制的自填式问卷评估儿童的知识水平，问卷分为两部分：口腔健康知识和自我报告的口腔健康行为。问卷中有七个多项选择题和一个是非题，该是非题有五个子部分，包含有关口腔健康知识、口腔卫生习惯及某些影响牙齿的习惯的基本信息。在实施口腔健康教育计划之前和之后六周发放问卷，以衡量这些儿童口腔健康知识水平的提高情况。
所有问题在干预后组的知识和自我报告行为方面均显示出统计学上的显著改善。干预后，知识水平显著提高了11.24%，自我报告行为水平提高了25%（P<0.001）。三年级学生因干预导致的知识净变化最高（13.3%），而自我报告的口腔健康行为方面，一年级学生的净变化最高（28.3%）。
本研究结果表明，一项易于组织且成本低廉的学校干预措施在短期内可有效提高儿童的口腔健康知识及自我报告的口腔健康行为。
