Department of Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry, JSS Dental College & Hospital, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysore, Karnataka, India.
Private Practitioner, Gurgaon, Haryana, India.
Public Health Nurs. 2021 Sep;38(5):913-919. doi: 10.1111/phn.12913. Epub 2021 Apr 23.
This study examines the knowledge levels pertaining to early childhood caries (ECC) among grassroot workers of rural India.
A questionnaire study assessing the awareness levels of various ECC aspects was carried out among 88 auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), 140 Anganwadi workers (AWWs), and 210 Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in a district of Southern India. A 24-item pretested, structured, and close-ended, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on the knowledge of early childhood oral health-related factors. Descriptive statistics and multivariate ANOVA were used to summarize the results.
Overall, only 59% of ANMs, 49% of AWWs, and 47% of ASHA workers were found to have adequate knowledge about ECC.
The current study clearly highlighted the discrepancy in the awareness levels among grassroot health care workers. A deficit was found to exist in the knowledge of the tested health care workers regarding infant oral care and ECC transmissibility.
本研究旨在调查印度农村基层工作者对婴幼儿龋（ECC）的认知水平。
采用问卷调查的方法，对印度南部一个地区的 88 名辅助护士助产士（ANM）、140 名安格安瓦迪工人（AWW）和 210 名认证社会卫生活动家（ASHA）工人进行了评估，了解他们对各种 ECC 方面的认识水平。使用了一份经过预测试、结构合理、封闭式的自我管理问卷，收集与婴幼儿口腔健康相关因素的知识信息。采用描述性统计和多变量方差分析来总结结果。
总体而言，仅有 59%的 ANM、49%的 AWW 和 47%的 ASHA 工人被认为对 ECC 有足够的了解。
本研究明确强调了基层医疗保健工作者之间的认知水平差异。研究发现，受测试的医疗保健工作者在婴儿口腔护理和 ECC 传染性方面的知识存在不足。
