Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Department of Dental Public Health, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
J Public Health Dent. 2022 Sep;82(4):406-414. doi: 10.1111/jphd.12475. Epub 2021 Sep 20.
To investigate the relationship of family functioning with dental caries among 3-4-year-olds and the role of family functioning in explaining the relationship of family socioeconomic status (SES) with childhood dental caries.
Data from 761 parent-child dyads who took part in the East London Oral Health Inequalities study were analyzed. Family functioning was assessed using the 60-item family assessment device that yielded scores on general functioning and six domains (roles, communication, problem-solving, affective involvement, affective responsiveness, and behavior control). Children were clinically examined at home for dental caries. The association of family functioning and family SES (education and socioeconomic classification) with dental caries (dmft and dt scores) was tested using negative binominal regression while adjusting for child and parental demographic factors.
Children from families with unhealthy general functioning had 1.49 (95% CI: 1.01-2.20) and 1.84 (95% CI: 1.20-2.82) times greater dmft and dt, respectively, than those from families with healthy functioning after adjustment for confounders. The estimates for the associations of parental education and socioeconomic classification with dmft and dt were attenuated by around 12%-18% after adjusting for family functioning. Of the six family functioning domains assessed, only unhealthy behavior control in the family was associated with greater numbers of decayed teeth after adjustments.
This study showed that unhealthy family functioning was associated with dental caries among young children. Family functioning partly explained the relationship between family SES and childhood dental caries.
调查家庭功能与 3-4 岁儿童龋齿之间的关系，以及家庭功能在解释家庭社会经济状况（SES）与儿童龋齿之间关系中的作用。
对参加东伦敦口腔健康不平等研究的 761 对父母-子女进行了数据分析。使用 60 项家庭评估工具评估家庭功能，该工具得出了一般功能和六个领域（角色、沟通、解决问题、情感投入、情感反应和行为控制）的得分。在家中对儿童进行临床检查以评估龋齿情况。使用负二项回归检验家庭功能和家庭 SES（教育和社会经济分类）与龋齿（dmft 和 dt 评分）之间的关联，同时调整了儿童和父母人口统计学因素。
与功能健康的家庭相比，功能不健康的家庭的儿童 dmft 和 dt 分别高出 1.49（95%CI：1.01-2.20）和 1.84（95%CI：1.20-2.82），在调整混杂因素后。调整家庭功能后，父母教育和社会经济分类与 dmft 和 dt 的关联估计值降低了约 12%-18%。在所评估的六个家庭功能领域中，只有家庭中不健康的行为控制与更多的龋齿有关。
本研究表明，不健康的家庭功能与幼儿龋齿有关。家庭功能部分解释了家庭 SES 与儿童龋齿之间的关系。
