Oral Health Knowledge and Attitude of Students In UAE

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the oral health knowledge and attitude in school students grade 7-12, in Ajman, UAEand to identify predictors of poor oral knowledge and attitudes and to determine common barriers to oralhealth care.Method: A Cross sectional study among students, grade 7 -12, whose parents signed informed consent fortheir participation. Random selection of schools and participants was done. Validated self-administeredquestionnaire was employed. Knowledge and attitudes were assessed by scoring system. Official ethicalapproval was obtained. Data analyzed by SPSS software. Chi- square test, Fishers’ Exact test, logisticregression analysis and Mann-Whitney test were used.Results: The study included 395 participants,mostly ? 13- year-old, females, UAE national, having familysize <5, with higher levels of education parents. Poor knowledge was identified in 37.2% of respondents.Significant associations were noticed between poor knowledge and gender, family size, and dental insurance(<0.05 for previous variables). Being females compared to males, having large family size, lower educationlevel father, and no dental insurance increase the risk of poor knowledge (OR=4.92, CI:. 2.08-11.63,P<0.0001; OR=11.82, 95%CI:5.48-25.52, P=<0.0001;OR=2.39, 95%CI: 1.38-4.12, P=0.002; OR=5.04, 95%CI:2.11-11.99, P=<0.0001 respectively). Adequateattitude score was identified in 93.7% of respondents. The risk for poor attitude was significantly increasedwith poor knowledge (OR=3.02,.95% CI:1.24-7.32, P=0.01). Discouraging parent opinion on dentist visitswas the most common barrier for oral healthcareConclusions: Poor knowledge is identified in about one third of respondents, and adequate attitude in mostof respondents. Gender, family size and lack of dental insurance were significant predictors of poor oralhealth knowledge. Poor attitudes are determined by poor knowledge. Discouraging parent opinion is themost common barrier