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Attitudes towards oral health among parents of 6-year-old children at risk of developing caries.
- Source :
-
Community Dentistry & Oral Epidemiology . Dec2010, Vol. 38 Issue 6, p507-520. 14p. 6 Diagrams, 2 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Vermaire JH, Hoogstraten J, van Loveren C, Poorterman JHG, van Exel NJA. Attitudes towards oral health among parents of 6-year-old children at risk of developing caries. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2010; 38: 507-520. © 2010 John & Wiley & Sons A/S Parental attitudes are likely to play a role in achieving and maintaining a desired level of oral health in children. To be useful in individually delivered caries prevention programmes, parental attitudes should be identified at individual level. Q-methodology has been proved successful in identifying attitudes in a wide range of disciplines but in dentistry Q-studies are scarce. In this study Q-methodology was used to identify parents' prevailing attitudes towards the oral health of their children. Thirty-nine parents ranked 37 statements regarding the dental health behaviour they apply to their 6-year-old child. They later explained their rankings during a short interview. In Q-methodology, rather than reporting one average composite attitude and opinion, various combinations of opinions and attitudes concerning these statements are identified using by-person factor analysis. Based on their beliefs, attitudes and cognitions, five categories of parents were found: (i) conscious and responsible, (ii) trivializing and fatalistic, (iii) appearance-driven and open-minded, (iv) knowledgeable but defensive and (v) conscious and concerned. Q-methodology appears to be a fruitful way to structure the complexity of parents' opinions and attitudes towards their children's dental health. It appears that Q-methodology provides comprehensive clusters of individual attitudes, based on various levels of responses to a wide range of questions. The five identified profiles may be useful in developing tailor-made prevention strategies in caries prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 03015661
- Volume :
- 38
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Community Dentistry & Oral Epidemiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 55022751
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0528.2010.00558.x