Attitudes towards oral health among parents of 6-year-old children at risk of developing caries. 2010

J H Vermaire, and J Hoogstraten, and C van Loveren, and J H G Poorterman, and N J A van Exel
Department of Social Dentistry and Behavioural Sciences, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. e.vermaire@acta.nl

OBJECTIVE 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. METHODS 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. RESULTS 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. CONCLUSIONS 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.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009426 Netherlands Country located in EUROPE. It is bordered by the NORTH SEA, BELGIUM, and GERMANY. Constituent areas are Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, formerly included in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Holland,Kingdom of the Netherlands
D009909 Oral Health The optimal state of the mouth and normal functioning of the organs of the mouth without evidence of disease. Health, Oral
D010287 Parent-Child Relations The interactions between parent and child. Parent-Offspring Interaction,Parent Child Relationship,Parent-Child Relationship,Interaction, Parent-Offspring,Parent Child Relations,Parent Child Relationships,Parent Offspring Interaction,Parent-Child Relation,Parent-Child Relationships,Parent-Offspring Interactions,Relation, Parent-Child,Relationship, Parent Child,Relationship, Parent-Child
D010290 Parents Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent. Step-Parents,Parental Age,Parenthood Status,Stepparent,Age, Parental,Ages, Parental,Parent,Parental Ages,Status, Parenthood,Step Parents,Step-Parent,Stepparents
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D002648 Child A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL. Children
D003731 Dental Caries Localized destruction of the tooth surface initiated by decalcification of the enamel followed by enzymatic lysis of organic structures and leading to cavity formation. If left unchecked, the cavity may penetrate the enamel and dentin and reach the pulp. Caries, Dental,Carious Lesions,Dental Cavities,Dental Cavity,Dental Decay,Dental White Spots,Carious Dentin,Decay, Dental,Dental White Spot,White Spot, Dental,White Spots, Dental,Carious Dentins,Carious Lesion,Cavities, Dental,Cavity, Dental,Dentin, Carious,Dentins, Carious,Lesion, Carious,Lesions, Carious,Spot, Dental White,Spots, Dental White
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001294 Attitude to Health Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system. Health Attitude,Attitude, Health,Attitudes, Health,Health Attitudes,Health, Attitude to
D012307 Risk Factors An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, inborn or inherited characteristic, which, based on epidemiological evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent. Health Correlates,Risk Factor Scores,Risk Scores,Social Risk Factors,Population at Risk,Populations at Risk,Correlates, Health,Factor, Risk,Factor, Social Risk,Factors, Social Risk,Risk Factor,Risk Factor Score,Risk Factor, Social,Risk Factors, Social,Risk Score,Score, Risk,Score, Risk Factor,Social Risk Factor

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