Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 2/F The Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Qual Life Res. 2020 Sep;29(9):2455-2464. doi: 10.1007/s11136-020-02504-7. Epub 2020 Apr 19.
It is not clear which factors hold more weight in predicting oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Therefore, this study explored which component of factors (e.g., socio-economic status, clinical status or oral health behaviors, dental anxiety, oral health knowledge) has a better predictive value in different aspects (e.g., oral symptoms, functional limitations, social and emotional conditions) of adolescents' OHRQoL.
Participants were randomly selected from Grade Two (S2) students within 12 secondary schools in Hong Kong. The independent variables include the following : socio-economic (monthly family income, parents' educational background), oral health behaviors (the frequency of brushing and having snacks like chocolate or biscuits), and oral health-related factors (oral health knowledge, dental anxiety, dental caries and bleeding index). Adolescents' OHRQoL was evaluated using the 16-item Child Perception Questionnaire (CPQ-ISF:16). Frequencies and means were used for data description. Different variables were analyzed as predictors of OHRQoL by multi-level linear regression analysis.
1207 adolescents (46.6% females) participated in this study. The mean total CPQ-ISF:16 was 14.2 (9.8). Mean scores of oral symptoms, functional limitations, and emotional and social well-being were 4.4 (2.8), 4.2 (2.8), 3.2 (3.1), and 2.4 (2.7), respectively. In the final model, adolescents with poorer oral health knowledge, higher dental anxiety levels, brushed their teeth less than once a day and consumed chocolates or biscuits more regularly as reported by a statistically worse OHRQoL (p < 0.05). In addition, gingival bleeding was a predictor of the oral symptom domain (β = 0.7, p = 0.027); the emotional well-being of adolescents whose father went to college had a better OHRQoL (β = - 0.9, p = 0.014) and adolescents from the higher-income family had a statistically better social well-being (p = 0.015).
Our study indicates that adolescents with poorer oral health knowledge, higher dental anxiety levels, brushing their teeth less than once a day, or having a daily consumption of chocolate or biscuits had statistically worse OHRQoL. These findings can provide guidance for future oral health promotion in improving OHRQoL among adolescents.
目前尚不清楚哪些因素对预测口腔健康相关生活质量（OHRQoL）的影响更大。因此，本研究旨在探讨哪些因素（如社会经济地位、临床状况或口腔健康行为、牙科焦虑、口腔健康知识）在青少年 OHRQoL 的不同方面（如口腔症状、功能障碍、社会和情绪状况）具有更好的预测价值。
参与者是从香港 12 所中学的二年级（S2）学生中随机抽取的。自变量包括社会经济状况（月家庭收入、父母教育背景）、口腔健康行为（刷牙频率和食用巧克力或饼干等零食）以及口腔健康相关因素（口腔健康知识、牙科焦虑、龋齿和出血指数）。青少年的 OHRQoL 通过儿童感知问卷（CPQ-ISF：16）的 16 项进行评估。采用频数和均值进行数据描述。通过多层次线性回归分析，对不同变量进行分析，以预测 OHRQoL。
共有 1207 名青少年（46.6%为女性）参与了本研究。CPQ-ISF：16 的平均总分是 14.2（9.8）。口腔症状、功能障碍、情绪和社会福祉的平均得分分别为 4.4（2.8）、4.2（2.8）、3.2（3.1）和 2.4（2.7）。在最终模型中，口腔健康知识较差、牙科焦虑水平较高、每天刷牙少于一次和经常食用巧克力或饼干的青少年报告的 OHRQoL 更差（p<0.05）。此外，牙龈出血是口腔症状领域的预测因素（β=0.7，p=0.027）；父亲上过大学的青少年情绪健康状况较好（β=-0.9，p=0.014），家庭收入较高的青少年社会福祉较好（p=0.015）。
本研究表明，口腔健康知识较差、牙科焦虑水平较高、每天刷牙少于一次或每天食用巧克力或饼干的青少年的 OHRQoL 更差。这些发现为未来在提高青少年 OHRQoL 方面进行口腔健康促进提供了指导。
