Impact of a Web-Based Intervention on Maternal Caries Transmission and Prevention Knowledge, and Oral Health Attitudes

Abstract

Poor oral health knowledge is thought to significantly contribute to the incidence of early childhood caries, the most common childhood disease in the U.S. This study assessed the effectiveness of a web-based educational program in increasing oral health and caries transmission knowledge, attitudes and planned behavior among mothers and primary caregivers. Study participants were recruited from subscribers to an online health information newsletter distributed by a national dental insurance company and from visitors to a health information website sponsored by the same company. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention surveys and viewed a brief educational program. Results were analyzed for pre- to post-test changes in knowledge and attitudes. Planned behavior change was also assessed. 459 participants completed pre-and post-test surveys. The sample was typically more insured (91.3 %), and college educated (76.9 %), than the general population. At baseline, respondents were knowledgeable about caries and its prevention; however, their specific knowledge about caries transmission was limited. There was a significant increase in caries knowledge from baseline to follow-up, particularly regarding caries transmission. At baseline less than half of the participants (48.8 %) knew that mothers/primary caregivers play a large role in passing cavity causing germs to children and 43.1 % knew that there is a defined period of time when the risk of transmission of cariogenic bacteria is greatest; however in post-testing 99.6 % and 98.3 % answered these question correctly respectively (p < 0.001). Results indicate that a web-delivered oral health intervention can increase dental knowledge and increase participants' plans to prevent maternal caries transmission. The provision of web-delivered education to primary caregivers can be an effective and low cost strategy for promoting maternal and infant oral health.

Educational interventions to increase HPV vaccination acceptance: A systematic review

“…Therefore, interventions that improve understanding of, and positive attitudes toward HPV vaccine may increase HPV vaccination coverage. Previous successful behavioral interventions to increase compliance with other preventive health recommendations such as increasing sun protection behavior [18], improving dental hygiene [19], and increasing adherence to cervical and breast cancer screenings [20], for example, have employed various education delivery methods, including classroom lectures for adolescents [18], brief online education for parents [19], and home visits for women [20]. In our present systematic review, we focus on published evaluations of educational interventions designed to increase HPV vaccine acceptance in patients eligible to receive the vaccine, or their parents.”…”

Effectiveness of a Web-Based Health Education Program to Promote Oral Hygiene Care Among Stroke Survivors: Randomized Controlled Trial

“…A noteworthy finding of this study was that both groups were given the CAL program, but only the intervention group had detailed information on oral health related to stroke patients. Thus this contributed to a significant increase in specific knowledge and GI among the intervention group compared with the control group [18]. …”

“…The use of Web-based and computer-aided learning (CAL) has been widely used in CPD programs for health carers, owing to its ability to implement programs across wide geographical areas at relatively low costs and because of the reported effectiveness of such programs in changing health care practices [16-20] and health behavior [21]. Increasingly, Web-based and CAL programs are being used to enhance oral hygiene care in hospital and other institutionalized setting, and there are several reports of their ability to positively bring about change in knowledge [22], attitudes [18], and oral health behavior [23]. …”

Comparison of the effectiveness of a mobile phone-based education program in educating mothers as oral health providers in two regions of Saudi Arabia

“…[29] While the use of the internet in bringing in new ideas is well recognized, it must be remembered that the internet can also serve as a mean to improve the life of individuals within an existing social structure. [6] The difficulty women face in being able to come to the dentist was the reason to develop an application that would allow mothers to interact virtually with their dentist. Saudi Arabia is a technologically advanced society with recent literature documenting an active use of the internet, mobile phones, and social media.…”

“…[12345] The advent of the digital age has also seen the creation of web-based programs and interventions to promote oral health care. [6] The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest country in terms of area in the Arab world. Geographic as well as cultural factors make the effective dispersion of auxiliaries for oral health education in remote areas of the Kingdom difficult.…”