Kuusela S, Honkala E, Rimpelä A
University of Kuopio, Department of Health Sciences and Economics, Finland.
Community Dent Health. 1996 Mar;13(1):34-9.
The purpose of this study was to analyse the establishment of the toothbrushing frequency as a healthy habit by Finnish adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age. The data were collected as part of the nation-wide research programme, the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey. All Finns born in 1968 with birthdays on 20-25 July formed the sample (N=1106). Questionnaires were mailed to the whole sample in February 1981 (12 years of age), -83 (14 years), -85 (16 years) and -87 (18 years). The rate of return for all four questionnaires was 62 percent (six-year follow-up) and for two questionnaires (two-year follow-up studies) 79 percent (12 and 14 years), 72 percent (14 and 16 years) and 68 percent (16 and 18 years). Those adolescents who brushed their teeth more than once a day at age 12, were more stable in their behaviour during the following six years than those who brushed their teeth less often. Over two thirds of the respondents, both boys and girls, indicated one or more changes in their toothbrushing frequency in the four questionnaires during the six-year follow-up. The rate of improvement in toothbrushing frequency was higher among girls than boys, and the rate of deterioration in toothbrushing frequency was higher among boys than girls. One sixth of the adolescents still showed a deterioration in their brushing frequency between the ages of 16 and 18. It may be concluded that although toothbrushing frequency will be gradually adopted as a health habit when the adolescents mature between 12 and 18 years, only half the girls and one fifth of the boys adopt the recommended frequency. Health education should still improve performance in those groups which have not established the recommended toothbrushing frequency.
本研究的目的是分析芬兰12至18岁青少年将刷牙频率养成健康习惯的情况。这些数据是作为全国性研究项目“青少年健康与生活方式调查”的一部分收集的。所有1968年出生、生日在7月20日至25日的芬兰人构成了样本（N = 1106）。问卷于1981年2月（12岁）、1983年（14岁）、1985年（16岁）和1987年（18岁）邮寄给整个样本。所有四份问卷的回复率为62%（六年随访），两份问卷（两年随访研究）的回复率分别为79%（12岁和14岁）、72%（14岁和16岁）和68%（16岁和18岁）。那些在12岁时每天刷牙超过一次的青少年，在接下来的六年里行为比刷牙不那么频繁的青少年更稳定。在六年随访期间，超过三分之二的受访者（包括男孩和女孩）表示在四份问卷中刷牙频率有一次或多次变化。女孩刷牙频率的改善率高于男孩，男孩刷牙频率的恶化率高于女孩。六分之一的青少年在16至18岁之间刷牙频率仍在下降。可以得出结论，尽管在12至18岁青少年成熟过程中刷牙频率会逐渐成为一种健康习惯，但只有一半的女孩和五分之一的男孩采用了推荐的频率。健康教育仍应改善那些尚未养成推荐刷牙频率的群体的表现。
