The relationship between oral health education and quality of life in adolescents

摘要

Background: There is no study on the association between oral health education and oral health quality of life (OHQoL). Aim: To assess the relationship between oral health education activities integrated into primary care services and OHQoL in adolescents. Design: A retrospective observational survey was conducted on 300 randomly selected 12-14 years-of-age adolescents living in two publicly funded health service administrative areas in Manaus, Brazil. Between 2006 and 2008, dental treatment and oral health education were offered in one area (DT/OHE group), whereas in the other area, only dental treatment was provided (DT group). Collected data included socio-demographic characteristics, health services use, health-related behaviours, dental pain, dental caries and Child-OIDP. Independent variables were compared between groups by Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests. The association between one or more OIDP (Child-OIDP ≥ 1) and DT group tested using multivariate logistic regression. Results: Caries, use of dental services and health-related behaviours did not differ between groups (P > 0.05). Child-OIDP ≥ 1 was higher in DT group (90.0%) compared with DT/OHE group (79.3%) (P = 0.01). Child-OIDP ≥ 1 was independently associated with DT group [OR = 4.4 (1.1; 17.0)]. Conclusions: Adolescents living in an area where OHE and DT were provided had better OHRQoL than those living in an area where only DT was provided.