Department of Community Dentistry, Goa Dental and College and Hospital, Goa, India.
Oral Health Sciences Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India.
Spec Care Dentist. 2021 May;41(3):358-366. doi: 10.1111/scd.12573. Epub 2021 Feb 6.
To describe and compare the oral health perceptions, behaviors, and barriers for utilization of dental care among differently abled and healthy children.
Participants in this cross-sectional study were differently abled and healthy children belonging to the age group of 7-15 years. A questionnaire for measuring the children's perceptions, behaviors, and barriers was developed, validated, and applied to this study. Cronbach's α was calculated to test reliability, and test-retest reliability was assessed by Pearson's correlation test. Chi-square/Fisher exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and factor analysis were also applied. Statistical significant differences were defined as P < 0.05, two-tailed.
A total number of 300 children in each group participated in the study. The correlations of test and retest for the questionnaire ranged from 0.69 to 0.86 (P < 0.05) with Cronbach's α score of 0.862. More than half in both the groups were aware of the presence of fluoride in their toothpaste, and parents agreed that a child's dental health is satisfactory yet only one-third of them perceived dental problems as serious. Regarding brushing twice daily, the frequency was better in the study group (26.3% and 17.3%, P = 0.01), most of them changed their toothbrush between 3 and 6 months (67.3% and 82.0%, P < 0.001), and tongue cleaner were regularly used as an oral hygiene aid (62.3% and 88.5%, P = 0.01). Members of the study group appear to have visited the dentist (26.0%) more as compared to the control group (17.7%) (P = 0.01), and most of the respondents (50.0% and 41.5%) consulted the dentist on account of dental caries. In the study group, no priority care (8.82±2.81), difficulty in communicating with the dentist (7.85±1.92), treatment cost (6.90±1.98) and fear of dental instruments (6.90±1.98), respectively, were the barriers with the highest means of scores, whereas in the control group it was related to affordability and fear. Facilities in dental clinics excluding wheelchairs (76.3% and 76.7%) and corridor signs (66.3% and 61.7%) were lacking.
Knowledge and attitude scores were adequate but there was a discrepancy present concerning oral health practices. Dental health was not viewed as a threat, and therefore, not many visited the dentist. Priority care and communication problems were the central issues among differently abled children, while among healthy children, the main factor was cost and fear.
描述和比较残疾儿童和健康儿童的口腔健康认知、行为和口腔保健利用障碍。
本横断面研究的参与者为年龄在 7-15 岁之间的残疾儿童和健康儿童。我们开发了一个用于测量儿童认知、行为和障碍的问卷，并对其进行了验证和应用。采用 Cronbach's α 检验来评估信度，采用 Pearson 相关检验评估重测信度。还应用了卡方/Fisher 确切检验、Mann-Whitney U 检验和因子分析。定义双侧 P 值<0.05 为有统计学差异。
每组各有 300 名儿童参与研究。问卷的测试和重测相关性在 0.69 到 0.86 之间（P<0.05），Cronbach's α 评分为 0.862。两组中都有一半以上的儿童知道牙膏中含有氟化物，且家长认为孩子的口腔健康状况令人满意，但只有三分之一的人认为口腔问题很严重。关于每天刷牙两次，研究组的频率更好（分别为 26.3%和 17.3%，P=0.01），大多数人每 3-6 个月更换一次牙刷（分别为 67.3%和 82.0%，P<0.001），并定期使用舌刮器作为口腔卫生辅助工具（分别为 62.3%和 88.5%，P=0.01）。与对照组（17.7%）相比，研究组的儿童似乎更多地去看牙医（26.0%）（P=0.01），大多数受访者（分别为 50.0%和 41.5%）因为龋齿而咨询牙医。在研究组中，没有优先护理（8.82±2.81）、与牙医沟通困难（7.85±1.92）、治疗费用（6.90±1.98）和害怕牙科器械（6.90±1.98）是得分最高的障碍，而在对照组中，则与可负担性和恐惧有关。牙科诊所缺乏轮椅（分别为 76.3%和 76.7%）和走廊标志（分别为 66.3%和 61.7%）。
知识和态度评分充足，但口腔健康实践方面存在差异。口腔健康没有被视为威胁，因此，没有很多人去看牙医。优先护理和沟通问题是残疾儿童的核心问题，而在健康儿童中，主要因素是费用和恐惧。
