Effectiveness of different oral health education interventions in visually impaired school children

Abstract

Aim To assess the oral hygiene status, knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) in visually impaired children before and after imparting 3 different modes of oral health education. Methodology and results The present study was a nonrandomized interventional study conducted among visually impaired school children. Ninety visually impaired children aged 12–15 years were selected by lottery method and divided into 3 groups (30 children each). Group 1: ATP (audio, tactile, performance technique), Group 2: Braille, and Group 3: ATP + Braille. Twenty‐item verbal questionnaire was developed to record their knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding oral hygiene before and after imparting oral health education. The oral hygiene status was recorded and compared using plaque and gingival index after 21‐day, 1‐, 6‐, and 9‐month interval. ANOVA, Tukey's post hoc, repeated measures ANOVA, and McNemar test were used. Group 3 showed highest percentage of reduction in plaque (55%) and gingival (52%) scores when compared with Group 1 and Group 2. Conclusion The combination of ATP (audio, tactile, and performance technique) and Braille is an effective way to improve oral hygiene status in visually impaired children. The KAP among these children also improved significantly after imparting oral health education.

Effectiveness of oral health educational interventions on oral health of visually impaired school children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…There are 24 studies 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] included in this review and the general characteristics of which are presented in Table 2. Majority of the studies included, that, 19 studies 9,11,[14][15][16][21][22][23][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]35,38 are conducted in different parts of India and one each in Bulgaria, 24 Thailand, 37 Indonesia, 12 Pakistan, 34 and Malaysia. 36 The study design of eleven studies 9,…”

“…36 The study design of eleven studies 9,12,15,21,26,28,29,33,34,37,39 was randomized control trial, two studies 11,30 were cluster randomized trials, and the remaining 11 were non-randomized studies (NRS). 14,16,[22][23][24][25]27,31,32,35,36 Out of the 11 NRS, there were seven studies 14,22,[23][24][25]32,33 which were single group pre-and post-intervention studies. All the studies selected 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]…”

“…14,16,[22][23][24][25]27,31,32,35,36 Out of the 11 NRS, there were seven studies 14,22,[23][24][25]32,33 which were single group pre-and post-intervention studies. All the studies selected 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] included schools with no history of oral health care programs. The age of the participants ranged from 6 to 15 years old with complete visual impairment throughout the interventions' conducting period.…”

“…Also, informed consent and assent was taken from the parents/guardians and the participating students respectively. 9,11,12,14,15,16,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] A total of 1890 participants were part of the studies' analysis, with 1610 in New OHE methods group (282 in Braille group, 11,12,15,21,26,27,33,38 518 in ATP group, 9,14,16,21,23,26,33,34,38 374 in Audio and Braille group, 9,11,25,28,29,32,[35][36][37] 154 in Braille and ATP group,…”

Factors Predicting the Oral Health Behaviors of the Iranian Students in the District 1 Tehran, Iran

“…There is the fact that habits are at this age and caries in the first teeth 2 . Brushing and flossing are the very best methods to reduce the incidence of plaque 5 .…”