Abstract
Objectives
Adequate knowledge about oral health at a young age is essential in establishing good oral health related behaviors and in developing a positive attitude towards oral health. This study aims to assess the oral health knowledge, attitude and practice of adolescent children aged 15–17 years in Kuwait.
Methods
This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 12 randomly selected public schools in Kuwait using a two-stage cluster sampling method. An Arabic questionnaire with 29 questions were distributed to the students from selected classes. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: the first section gathered information on the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants; the second section assessed the oral health knowledge of the respondents; the third section assessed the students’ attitude towards professional dental care and the last section assessed the students’ oral health behaviors and practice. Frequency distributions were obtained for each variable and the differences between genders were analyzed using chi-squared statistics and the mean difference in the knowledge and attitude scores were analyzed using independent sample t-test.
Results
A total of 3,091 students aged 15–17 years (52.8% girls) participated in this study. The mean (SD) knowledge score of the respondents was 8.62 (2.53) and this was significantly higher for girls compared to boys (p<0.001). Significantly higher percentage of girls than boys knew the role of diet and oral hygiene in preventing caries (p<0.001). Knowledge about dental plaque was very limited in this population. Majority of the respondents believed that regular dental visits were essential (87.1%). The mean (SD) attitude score of the respondents was 3.30 (2.72) and this was significantly higher for girls compared to boys (p<0.001). Majority of the students used toothbrush and toothpaste to clean their teeth (60%).
Conclusion
Significant gender differences were observed in the oral health knowledge and attitudes in this population. School based oral health promotion programs can be effective in promoting good oral health attitudes and practice among children.
Acknowledgments
We express our appreciation to all the children who participated in this survey and to the school authorities for their cooperation and assistance.
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Research funding: The study did not receive any financial support.
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Author contributions: MAb and MAl designed the study and have taken an active role in data collection, analysis and drafting and revising the manuscript. QAO and JKB have taken an active role supervising the study and drafting the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
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Informed consent: Assent forms were signed by students willing to participate in the study.
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Ethical approval: The research was conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Health Science Center Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University.
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Consent for publication: Not Applicable
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Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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