Behavior Change Therapy Model for Improving Tooth Brushing Behavior among Children with Mental Retardation

Rohisotul Laily,Supriyana Supriyana,Rasipin Rasipin,Bedjo Santoso,Suharyo Hadisaputro

doi:10.35654/ijnhs.v3i6.354

Abstract

Dental health problems occur in many communities, including mental retardation in children with all of their intellectual limitations, social behavior, and sometimes the weakness in motor coordination. The study aimed to develop and to examine the effectiveness of the behavior change therapy model as an alternative to improving the tooth brushing behavior among children with mental retardation. The Research and Development (R&D) approach was applied in this study. The quasi-Experimental, Pre-test, and Post-test with the non-equivalent control group for examining the effect of the model on health outcome. The research subjects of mental retardation children were divided into the intervention group and the control group. Experts tested by the intervention group validated the model development. Expert validation of the behavior change therapy model gets an average of 86.67 (very decent) as an alternative to improving tooth brushing behavior among children with mental retardation with p-value<0.05. Other results found that the model effectively enhanced the knowledge, gesture, and tooth brushing skills in mental retardation children with p-value <0.05. The therapy model as an alternative strategy was useful and recommended improving tooth brushing behavior among mental retardation children

Highlights

In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that 90% of school-age children worldwide got dental caries (1)
The findings showed the behavior change therapy model of a tooth significantly brushing in children with mental retardation effectively increased children's knowledge, attitudes, and mental retardation skills compared to the usual dental health program model
The findings showed a significant behavior change therapy model of tooth brushing in children with mental retardation effectively in increasing children's knowledge, attitudes, and skills with mental retardation compared to the usual dental health program model at school

Summary

Introduction

In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that 90% of school-age children worldwide got dental caries (1). In 2018, Riset Kesehatan Dasar showed that 57.6% of Indonesian people have oral and dental health problems (2). This is still far from Indonesia’s caries-free national target in 2030 (3). The impact of children with dental disease will inhibit the growth and development of the children themselves, such as the intellectual level of children decreases if it occurs continuously for an extended period. This is because the children get permission from school more often because of health problems (8)

Methods

Results

Conclusion