Abstract
Background: Preschool children have a limit ability to take care of their teeth. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an intervention based on Albanian’s Health Promoting Schools Model (Albanian’s HPSM) on the oral health behaviors among a group of Iranian female preschool (5-6 years old) children. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 120 children in seventh district of Tehran, Iran were randomly recruited and assigned to either the intervention or the control groups. A scale was designed and validated to assess the oral health behaviors among the children and knowledge,attitude, self-efficacy beliefs, perceived barriers and oral health behaviors among the parents and the schoolteachers. An expert panel approved the content validity of the scale (CVR = 0.89,CVI = 0.90). The reliability was also approved applying intraclass correlation coefficient (range,0.83–0.92) and Cronbach alpha (range, 0.83–0.96). Based on the preliminary data, a 6-week intervention was designed and conducted to the intervention group. One month following the intervention, both groups were followed-up. The data were analyzed using covariance and paired t tests. Results: Following the intervention, significant differences were found in the oral health behaviors of the children in the intervention group (P < 0.05) and knowledge, attitude, oral health behaviors, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers of their parents and the schoolteachers (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Using Albanian’s health-promoting schools (HPSs) approach was useful in improving the oral hygiene behaviors among the preschool children.
Highlights
Pre-school children are at high risk for dental caries.[1]
Albanian’s HPSM is recommended for developing educational interventions in primary schools,[20] few researches have studied this model to promote healthy behaviour among preschool children.[21,22]
Considering the high prevalence of tooth decay among Iranian children[23,24] and the effectiveness of adopting a health-promoting schools (HPSs) approach to develop educational intervention on the oral health of children[16,19] and, the lack of intervention studies in this field, this study was conducted to determine the effect of an educational intervention based on Albanian’s HPSM on oral health behaviors among a sample of pre-school (5-6 years old) children in Tehran, Iran
Summary
Pre-school children are at high risk for dental caries.[1]. About 51.7% of Iranian children, aged 3 to 5 years, have tooth decay and further efforts are essential to achieve 90% caries-free teeth among 5-year-old children.[2]. Conclusion: Using Albanian’s health-promoting schools (HPSs) approach was useful in improving the oral hygiene behaviors among the preschool children
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
