INTRODUCTION: Mothers are directly responsible for the dental health of their children and play a major role in shaping the dental health behaviors of their children. They also play an important role in preventing oral diseases in them. OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of attitude of mothers in relation to their pre-school aged children, which in turn can influence the level of oral health. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 312 mothers, selected randomly from eight blocks of Dhanbad district, Jharkhand, India. They were administered with a structured questionnaire on attitude, by an interviewer. RESULTS: The overall data indicated that the attitude of mothers about oral health in their pre-school children increased as their age increased which was not statistically significant (p>.066). Mothers who had less than higher secondary school education and belonged to socio-economically lower groups had poor knowledge of oral health which was statistically significant (p<.001). CONCLUSION: Mothers should be motivated so that their attitude about their child's oral health is enhanced which in turn would improve their oral health related quality of life.
INTRODUCTION: Mothers are directly responsible for the dental health of their children and play a major role in shaping the dental health behaviors of their children. They also play an important role in preventing oral diseases in them. OBJECTIVE: To assess the level of attitude of mothers in relation to their pre-school aged children, which in turn can influence the level of oral health. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 312 mothers, selected randomly from eight blocks of Dhanbad district, Jharkhand, India. They were administered with a structured questionnaire on attitude, by an interviewer. RESULTS: The overall data indicated that the attitude of mothers about oral health in their pre-school children increased as their age increased which was not statistically significant (p>.066). Mothers who had less than higher secondary school education and belonged to socio-economically lower groups had poor knowledge of oral health which was statistically significant (p<.001). CONCLUSION: Mothers should be motivated so that their attitude about their child's oral health is enhanced which in turn would improve their oral health related quality of life.
Entities:
Keywords:
Attitude; Oral health; Pre-school children
Authors: Vivien T Sakai; Thais M Oliveira; Thiago C Silva; Ana Beatriz S Moretti; Dafna Geller-Palti; Vivian A Biella; Maria Aparecida A M Machado Journal: J Appl Oral Sci Date: 2008 Mar-Apr Impact factor: 2.698