Lawal Folake Barakat, Fagbule Omotayo Francis, Lawal Taiwo Akeem, Oke Gbemisola Aderemi
Department of Periodontology and Community Dentistry, University of Ibadan and University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Fellow of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa, African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), Nairobi, Kenya.
Front Oral Health. 2022 Aug 18;3:879144. doi: 10.3389/froh.2022.879144. eCollection 2022.
Recent evidence showed that the prevalence of oral diseases is still high among adolescents in many developing countries, including Nigeria. It therefore has becomes pertinent to focus on appropriate oral health interventions to promote oral health among them. This necessitates investigating the perspectives of adolescents, who are the major stakeholders, on the importance of oral health as baseline data needed in planning appropriate primary interventions.
The aim of the study was to explore the perspectives of adolescents on the importance of oral health.
An explorative qualitative study was conducted among adolescents attending senior secondary school I (grade 10) in the metropolis of Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 12 focus group discussions were conducted among 120 adolescents aged 14 to 19 years. The discussions were transcribed verbatim, and triangulation and organization, as well as thematic analysis, of data were carried out.
Some adolescents had positive perceptions of oral health and valued it as highly important, although some had contrary views and believed oral health was unimportant. Oral health is described as being integral to general health, is associated with eating and communication, is a means of survival and confidence building, and is a prelude to attract the opposite gender. Adolescents perceived the need for oral health education and dental treatment.
Adolescents have mixed perspectives on the importance of oral health; while some valued it as highly important, others believed it was of no significance. Those who valued oral health as important described it as a milieu for general health, human survival, and social and mental health and thus requested for oral health promotion in schools.
最近的证据表明，在包括尼日利亚在内的许多发展中国家，青少年口腔疾病的患病率仍然很高。因此，关注适当的口腔健康干预措施以促进他们的口腔健康变得至关重要。这就需要调查作为主要利益相关者的青少年对口腔健康重要性的看法，作为规划适当初级干预措施所需的基线数据。
本研究的目的是探讨青少年对口腔健康重要性的看法。
在尼日利亚伊巴丹市的一所高中（十年级）就读的青少年中进行了一项探索性定性研究。在120名14至19岁的青少年中总共进行了12次焦点小组讨论。讨论内容逐字记录，并对数据进行了三角测量、整理以及主题分析。
一些青少年对口腔健康有积极的看法，并高度重视它，尽管有些青少年有相反的观点，认为口腔健康不重要。口腔健康被描述为整体健康不可或缺的一部分，与饮食和交流有关，是生存和建立自信的一种方式，也是吸引异性的前奏。青少年意识到需要口腔健康教育和牙科治疗。
青少年对口腔健康的重要性看法不一；一些人高度重视它，而另一些人则认为它无关紧要。那些重视口腔健康的人将其描述为整体健康、人类生存以及社会和心理健康的一个环境，因此要求在学校中促进口腔健康。
