Avina A. Nasia, Anisa N. Rosyidah, Nabhani Ibrahim
Program Studi Kedokteran Gigi, Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia
Email: avina.anin@fk.undip.ac.id
Abstract: Oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children is affected by several factors inter alia characteristics of children and environmental factors including parental health behavior. This study aimed to assess the relationship between parental health behavior and OHRQoL among preschoolers. This was an observational study using cross sectional design. This study was conducted through interviews with 177 parents of preschoolers (5-6 years old) in Semarang using a questionnaire on parental behavior related to oral health that had been tested for validity and reliability and the Early Childhood Oral Impact Scale (ECOHIS) questionnaire. The Spearman correlation test analysis was used to assess the relationship between variables. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the relationship between knowledge and action aspects with all ECOHIS score domains. However, there was a significant relationship between aspects of parental attitudes and the subdomain of self-image and social interaction, in particular avoiding speaking (p<0.05). In conclusion, there is no significant difference in the relationship between parental behavior and OHRQoL among preschoolers. However, parental attitudes potentially affect self-image and social interaction of the preschoolers.
Keywords: OHRQoL; quality of life; ECOHIS; preschoolers