Mishra Ambrish, Sharma Divashree, Tripathi Geeta Mishra, Khan Tauseef Ahmed
Department of Community Medicine, Shyam Shah Medical College, India.
Department of Dentistry, Shyam Shah Medical College, India.
J Rural Med. 2023 Jul;18(3):175-181. doi: 10.2185/jrm.2022-043. Epub 2023 Jul 7.
To assess and compare the knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers of pre-school children in urban and rural areas toward maintaining child oral health. A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in a convenient sample of 400 mothers of pre-school children (aged 9 months to 3 years) visiting the outpatient department of the Department of Dentistry, Shyam Shah Medical College, Rewa (M.P), India between February 1 and April 21, 2022. The study sample was divided into two groups based on whether they belonged to a rural area (Group A) or urban area (Group B). Group A included 236 participants, and Group B 186 participants. They were served a 24-item questionnaire to assess and compare their knowledge, attitude, and practice toward child oral health. The data were represented as mean and proportions, and a student t test and analysis of variance were performed. In Group A and Group B, 93.64% and 98.17% mothers respectively had the knowledge of cariogenic food. While 66.10% of mothers in Group A and 73.78% in Group B were aware that regular cleaning of teeth protects against tooth decay, only 5.49% of mothers in Group B and none in Group A reported taking their children to routine dental visits; the majority (94.07% in Group A and 78.05% in Group B) had never taken their children to the dentist. Urban background was significantly associated with better knowledge, attitude, and practice scores. Mother's' age and education level were significantly associated with better Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice scores in both groups. Mothers can play an important role in promoting positive attitudes and healthy practices toward oral health care in children. Knowledge, attitude, and practice score were found to be significantly low in mothers who belonged to the rural subgroup.
评估和比较城乡地区学龄前儿童母亲在维护儿童口腔健康方面的知识、态度和行为。2022年2月1日至4月21日，在印度中央邦雷瓦市Shyam Shah医学院牙科门诊就诊的400名学龄前儿童（9个月至3岁）母亲的便利样本中进行了一项横断面比较研究。研究样本根据其所属农村地区（A组）或城市地区（B组）分为两组。A组包括236名参与者，B组包括186名参与者。向她们发放了一份包含24个条目的问卷，以评估和比较她们在儿童口腔健康方面的知识、态度和行为。数据以均值和比例表示，并进行了学生t检验和方差分析。在A组和B组中，分别有93.64%和98.17%的母亲了解致龋食物。虽然A组66.10%的母亲和B组73.78%的母亲知道定期清洁牙齿可预防龋齿，但B组只有5.49%的母亲报告带孩子进行常规牙科检查，A组则无人报告；大多数（A组94.07%，B组78.05%）从未带孩子看过牙医。城市背景与更好的知识、态度和行为得分显著相关。母亲的年龄和教育水平在两组中均与更好的知识、态度和行为得分显著相关。母亲在促进儿童对口腔保健的积极态度和健康行为方面可发挥重要作用。发现属于农村亚组的母亲的知识、态度和行为得分显著较低。
