Journal List > J Korean Acad Oral Health > v.42(4) > 1122285

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Hong, Kim, and Chang: Oral health literacy of upper grade elementary school children
Original Article

Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health 2018; 42(4): 229-237.

Published online: 28 December 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2018.42.4.229

Oral health literacy of upper grade elementary school children

Jinsil Hong1, Young-Sam Kim1, Kee-Wan Chang1, 2

1Department of Preventive & Community Dentistry, Chonbuk National University Dental School, Jeonju, Korea.

2Institute of Oral-Bio Science, Chonbuk National University Dental School, Jeonju, Korea.

Corresponding Author: Kee-Wan Chang. Department of Preventive & Community Dentistry, Chonbuk National University Dental School, 567 Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju 54896, Korea. Tel: +82-63-270-4034, Fax: +82-63-270-4035, prevdent@chonbuk.ac.kr

Received 19 December 2018       Revised 20 December 2018       Accepted 20 December 2018

Copyright © 2018 by Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health

Journal of Korean Academy of Oral Health

(open-access):

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to examine oral health literacy in a sample of Korean of 5th and 6th grade elementary school children.

Methods

Data were obtained from a convenience sample of 274 5th and 6th grade children from two elementary schools located in Seoul and Uijeongbu. The oral health literacy assessment tool for children of Korea (OHLC-K) takes approximately 11 minutes to complete, and consists of 20 self-report questions with a score range of 0 to 20. Item analysis, descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple linear regression were performed using SPSS 23.0 and testAn 1.0.

Results

The lowest and highest percentage of correct answers were found in “Definition of periodontal disease (19.3%)” and “Definition of halitosis (92.7%),” respectively. The mean score for oral health literacy was found to be 14.95 ± 2.83, corresponding to a score of approximately 75% correct answers. The correlation coefficient for Korean and OHLC-K scores was high (r=.73, P<.01). In the multiple linear regression, oral health literacy was associated with grade and gender.

Conclusion

The present findings revealed that a quarter of the subjects were likely to misunderstand oral health information. Oral health education is indispensable to all children and, therefore, it is necessary to pay greater attention to children who exhibit poor oral health literacy.

Keywords: Children, Korean, Oral health literacy

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Characteristics of study sample and mean score of oral health literacy* (n=274)

jkaoh-42-229-i001

*P<.05 by t-test, Maximum score of oral health literacy was 20.

Table 2

Response number of answers by items (n=274)

jkaoh-42-229-i002

Def.:definition, Correct answers were listed in bold type.

Table 3

Mean scores and correlation by sub-domain scores (n=274)

jkaoh-42-229-i003

†t-test, P<.01. ‡Pearson's correlation, P<.01. The theoretical range of sub-domain score was 0–10. R2 of oral health literacy and contests were .18, .21.

Table 4

Multiple linear regression factors affecting oral health literacy (with stepwise)

jkaoh-42-229-i004

R2=.07, Adjusted R2=.07.

Table 5

Percentile by scores of Korean and oral health literacy (n=48)

jkaoh-42-229-i005

*Korean: Korean items on qualification examination for elementary school degree. Korean and Oral health literacy scores are ranged from 0 to 20. Coefficients of variation; Korean=.12, oral health literacy=.14, Skewness; Korean=−1.85, oral health literacy=−.71, Kurtosis; Korean= 4.32, oral health literacy=−.27.

Table 6

Correlation between Korean and Oral health literacy (n=48)

jkaoh-42-229-i006

*P<.05, **P<.01, †Korean: Korean items on qualification examination for elementary school degree, OHL: oral health literacy, BOK: basic oral health knowledge, ODP: oral disease and prevention, Pearson's correlation.

Table 7

Cross tabulation of Korean and oral health literacy thresholds (n=48)

jkaoh-42-229-i007

*Korean: Korean items on qualification examination for elementary school degree, <Thresholds: less then the thresholds score for lower 25%, ≥ Thresholds: above the thresholds score for lower 25%, Fisher's exact test, P<.01.

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