Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior Towards Oral Health Care Among Parents/Caregivers of Children with Disabilities in Qatar
Author(s):
Najat Abdrabbo Alyafei*, Bushra Naaz Fathima Jaleel and Tintu Mathew
Background: Parents/ caregivers oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviors can either facilitate or hinder their child’s oral health care or oral heath promoting behaviors. The perspective of parents/caregivers has a significant bearing on the oral health, particularly for the disabled children.
Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and behavior towards oral health care among of parents/ caregivers of children with disabilities and to evaluate the association between education level and oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviors.
Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire based, descriptive study was carried out among parents/ caregivers of children with disabilities, who attended 8 Special Needs schools in Doha, Qatar. Data was analyzed using Spearman’s test and Kruskal-Wallis test.
Results: Majority of the parents/caregivers knew that oral health affects general health and recognized that inadequate tooth brushing caused tooth decay. The mean knowledge, attitude and behavior scores were 7.81, 3.61 and 2.91 respectively. Highly significant correlation was found between parents’/ caregivers’ knowledge and attitude (p<. 001) as well as parents’/caregivers’ knowledge and behavior (p<. 004). Knowledge, attitude and behavior scores were significantly associated with education level.
Conclusion: Parents/caregivers of children with disabilities possess good oral health knowledge, very positive attitude and favorable behavior towards their child’s oral health. Education plays an essential role in shaping their knowledge, behavior and attitude with regard to their child’s oral health care and should be taken into consideration while designing Oral Health Promotion programs.