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Influences on preschool children's oral health‐related quality of life as reported by English and Spanish‐speaking parents and caregivers
Author(s) -
Born Catherine D.,
Divaris Kimon,
Zeldin Leslie P.,
Rozier R. Gary
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/jphd.12152
Subject(s) - medicine , attendance , confidence interval , early childhood , demography , quality of life (healthcare) , population , oral health , cohort , multivariate analysis , psychology , developmental psychology , environmental health , family medicine , nursing , sociology , economics , economic growth
Abstract Objective This study examined young, preschool children's oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) among a community‐based cohort of English and Spanish‐speaking parent–child dyads in North Carolina, and sought to quantify the association of parent/caregiver characteristics, including spoken language, with OHRQoL impacts. Methods Data from structured interviews with 1,111 parents of children aged 6–23 months enrolled in the Zero‐Out Early Childhood Caries study in 2010–2012 were used. OHRQoL was measured using the overall score (range: 0–52) of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS). We examined associations with parents' sociodemographic characteristics, spoken language, self‐reported oral and general health, oral health knowledge, children's dental attendance, and dental care needs. Analyses included descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate methods based upon zero‐inflated negative binomial regression. To determine differences between English and Spanish speakers, language‐stratified model estimates were contrasted using homogeneity χ 2 tests. Results The mean overall ECOHIS score was 3.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 3.6–4.2]; 4.7 among English‐speakers and 1.5 among Spanish speakers. In multivariate analyses, caregivers' education showed a positive association with OHRQoL impacts among Spanish speakers [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.12 (95% CI = 1.03–1.22), for every added year of schooling], whereas caregivers' fair/poor oral health showed a positive association among English speakers (PR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.02–1.41). Conclusions The overall severity of ECOHIS impacts was low among this population‐based sample of young, preschool children, and substantially lower among Spanish versus English speakers. Further studies are warranted to identify sources of these differences in – actual or reported – OHRQoL impacts.