Influence of sociodemographic factors on parental perceptions of Saudi parents on oral health-related quality of life of children with autism spectrum disorder in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aim: To assess the association of sociodemographic factors on parental perception of Saudi parents on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 100 Saudi parents whose children with ASD were enrolled in special schools in Riyadh. Parents were asked to fill out two questionnaires consisting of their sociodemographic information and parental caregiver perception questionnaire. The results were then statistically analyzed by applying mean standard deviation with 95% of confidence interval, Pearson’s Chi-square test, and multinomial regression model with level of significance P < 0.05. Results: Sociodemographic factors, like age, education, and family income, affected various domains of parental perception of OHRQoL of their children with ASD. Age and education of the father are significantly associated with the oral symptom domain (P value = 0.002) and emotional well-being (EW) (P value = 0.032), respectively. Age and education of the mother are significantly associated with the oral symptom domain (P value 0.035) and EW (P value 0.040), respectively. Family income is significantly associated with the oral symptom domain (P value 0.000). Conclusion: There is a definite role of sociodemographic factors on parental perceptions of Saudi parents regarding OHRQoL of ASD children.