Oral health literacy- Implications for Hong Kong's Children

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the relationship between caregivers’ oral health literacy and the oral health status of pre-school children in Hong Kong.

Methods:

A random sample of three hundred and one child/caregiver dyads (average child age: 5 yrs) was recruited from kindergartens in Hong Kong Island. Two locally-developed and validated oral health literacy assessment tasks: HKREALD-30 (Hong Kong Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry-30) and HKOHLAT (Hong Kong Oral Health Literacy Assessment Task) were administered to caregivers to assess their oral health literacy levels. The children’s oral health status [dental caries experience- dmft and oral hygiene status- Visible Plaque Index (VPI)] were simultaneously assessed.

Results:

The results showed that the caregivers’ HKOHLAT had a stronger association with children’s dmft: Odds ratio: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.26-0.86 (p<0.05) than HKREALD-30: Odds ratio: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.85-0.99 (p<0.05). HKOHLAT was also associated with VPI: Odds ratio: 0.42, 95% CI: 0.22-0.79 (p<0.01), but there was no association between HKREALD-30 and VPI.

Conclusions:

The caregivers’ oral health literacy was associated with pre-school children’s oral health status in Hong Kong. HKOHLAT had a stronger association with dmft and VPI than HKREALD-30.

Student Presenter This abstract is based on research that was funded entirely or partially by an outside source: Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (Ref: 760009).