Sociodemographics, oral health literacy, and caries experience related to daily performance among adolescents

Abstract

Low health literacy in adolescents can negatively impact their health status and quality of life. Objective: This study aims to verify the impact of sociodemographics, caries experience and oral health literacy (OHL) on the quality of life among adolescents aged 11–12. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a cluster sampling design was conducted on public elementary schools in a district of Batu City in January 2020. Self-administered questionnaires regarding sociodemographics, OHL, and child-oral impact on daily performance (C-OIDP) were administered to respondents. Caries examinations were performed by three independent examiners using the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMF-T) index after informed consent was received. The data was analyzed with a comparative test and logistic regression with a significance level of < 0.05. Results: 346 students followed the study, with a response rate of 92.22%. The majority of parents were not college-educated. 71.1% of respondents were 12 years old, 85.3% had caries, and 55.3% had a high total OHL score. There was a significant difference between low- and high-quality daily performance in the OHL score and caries experience categories (p=0.006 and p=0.008, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that the fathers’ education, caries experience, and OHL were associated with the quality of daily performance. Conclusions: Health literacy, caries experience, and parental education contribute to the quality of adolescents’ daily performance. Adolescents with few caries and high OHL have a better quality of daily performance.