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Determinants of children's oral‐health‐related quality of life over time
Author(s) -
Gururatana Orachad,
Baker Sarah R.,
Robinson Peter G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/cdoe.12080
Subject(s) - medicine , socioeconomic status , structural equation modeling , psychosocial , quality of life (healthcare) , oral health , psychological intervention , dentistry , demography , pediatrics , psychiatry , population , nursing , environmental health , sociology , statistics , mathematics
Objective To identify clinical and psychosocial predictors of oral‐health‐related quality of life ( OHQ oL) in Thai children over time. Methods OHQ oL data were collected from 510 students aged 10–14 years at baseline and 3, 6 and 9‐month follow‐up using the Child Perceptions Questionnaire ( CPQ 11‐14 ), and sense of coherence ( SOC ), dental coping beliefs ( DCB ) and socioeconomic status (maternal educational attainment, paternal educational attainment and parental income), together with clinical variables (untreated caries, gingival health, malocclusion, dental opacities), were collected at baseline. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling ( SEM ) guided by the Wilson and Cleary model ( J Am Med Assoc 1995; 273 :59). Results Mean DMFT was 1.97 ( SD = 1.81). Most students had healthy gingivae (54.3%) and 68.9% scored IOTN 1–4. The SEM model fitted the data well [ CMIN / DF = 2.574, SRMR = 0.0561, CFI = 0.974 and RMSEA = 0.059 (90% CI s = 0.039–0.079)]. Higher SOC , DCB and socioeconomic status ( SES ) at baseline consistently predicted better OHQ oL at all three time points. Untreated caries at baseline predicted worse OHQ oL at 6‐month follow‐up only. Malocclusion and dental opacities were unrelated to OHQ oL at any time point. Conclusions Individual factors, particularly SOC , were important influences on OHQ oL, suggesting that interventions designed to promote SOC may present an opportunity to enhance children's experience of oral health in their daily lives. Clinical factors were not consistently related to OHQ oL. This could be attributed to weak relationships between the two, the low level of disease and/or the sensitivity and discriminant validity of the CPQ 11‐14 .