Impact of sense of coherence on oral health-related quality of life among Brazilian adults

Association of Maternal Sense of Coherence With Oral Health Behavior of Children With Special Health Care Needs: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Sense of coherence (SOC) has been adopted to analyze stress coping skills as well as to find its association with health and oral health behavior. The Arabic version of SOC has not been developed and adopted in the Saudi Arabian population; furthermore, few studies have attempted to analyze the association of a mother's sense of coherence with the oral health behavior of Special Care Health Needs (SCHN) children. Hence, this study aimed to observe the association of mothers' SOC scores with their children's oral health behavior, along with the validation of the scale.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 170 mothers of children with SCHN. Participants were recruited from two schools in Riyadh City and one school in Makkah, respectively. Descriptive statistics, validation, reliability, factor analysis, and multinomial logistic regression were carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, Version 20, 2011; IBM Corp., Armonk, USA).

RESULTS

The mean SOC-13 score was 61.6 (±10.1), with a median value of 61. The SOC scale elicited a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.77. The Spearman-Brown-Brownuttman split-half reliability coefficients were found to be 0.70, respectively. The analysis confirmed a three-factor solution, which explains about 51.9% of the total variance. Mothers with higher SOC tend to utilize dental services for children [OR 5.69, P = 0.029, CI 1.19-27.02] and restrict sugary drinks to once a day [OR 9.31, P = 0.00, CI 1.95-44.44].

CONCLUSION

The reliability of the Arabic scale that was adopted after translation in the present study was found to be high; the scale confirms the three-factor solution. Mothers who scored low on the SOC scale tended to utilize less dental service for their children as well as overlook the sugary drink/day intake of the children.

Social and racial inequity in self-rated oral health in adults in Southern Brazil

This study aimed to estimate social and racial inequalities in self-rated oral health in adults from the Brazilian birth cohort study. This study belongs to 1982 Pelotas (Brazil) birth cohort study. Data from this study was collected for oral health conditions 31 years old (Oral Health Study). The outcome was self-rated oral health, dichotomized into positive (good/very good) and negative (regular/bad/very bad). Analyses were stratified by gender, racial/skin color groups, schooling level and income. For statistical analysis, the slope index of inequality (SII) and the concentration index (CIX) were used. The prevalence of negative self-rated oral health was 36.1%. Social inequalities were observed in self-rated oral health in both absolute and relative terms. A SII of -30.0 (95%CI: -43.6; -16.4) was observed for income, and -27.7 (95%CI: -41.9; -13.4) for schooling level. Both the individuals’ income and the schooling level had negative CIX (CIXincome -14.6 [95%CI: -21.2; -8.0] and CIXschooling level -14.1 [95%CI: -20.7; -7.5]). Furthermore, the prevalence of negative self-rated oral health in black/brown/indigenous individuals from the highest income/schooling level was comparable to prevalence of the outcome in the white individuals belonging to the lowest income/schooling levels. This study results demonstrate racial disparities in oral health regardless of income and schooling levels. Furthermore, a higher concentration of negative self-rated oral health was identified among the most socioeconomically vulnerable individuals. Our findings reinforce the presence of racial and socioeconomic inequalities in oral health.

Factors associated with oral health-related quality of life in homeless persons: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of homeless persons. A cross-sectional study was conducted, with participants (n = 176) attending a Specialized Reference Center for the Homeless Population in Teresina, Brazil. Dental caries (DMFT index, WHO criteria), periodontal disease (CPI index), and the consequences of untreated caries (PUFA index) were measured by a single calibrated examiner (Kappa ≥0.83). Sociodemographic, oral health, and OHRQoL (OHIP-14) data were obtained through interviews. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and Poisson regression, with a significance level of 5%. Most of the participants were male (86.4%) and from the age group of 30 to 43 years (52.2%). Mean DMFT was 11 (SD ± 6.9) and mean total PUFA score was 1.2 (SD ± 2.2). Most of the participants (88.6%) had dental calculus and 8.5% and 1.7% of the sample had gingival bleeding and periodontal pocket > 3.5mm, respectively. The highest prevalence of negative impact in the OHRQoL was associated with females (1.4 (95%CI 1.1-1.7)), low educational level (2.0 (95%CI 1.3-3.0)), caries (1.6 (95%CI 1.1-2.6)), fistulas (1.9 (95%CI 1.3-3.1)), gingival bleeding (1.7 (95%CI 1.1- 2.7)), dental calculus (1.8 (95% CI 1.3-2.5)), periodontal pockets > 3 mm (1.5 (95%CI 1.1-2.0)), and need for extraction (2.3 (95%CI 1.1-5.0)). In conclusion, the negative impact on the OHRQoL of homeless persons was associated with low educational level, presence of decayed teeth, gingival bleeding, and dental calculus.