The relationship between caregiver functional oral health literacy and child oral health status

ObjectiveTo describe the relationship between caregivers' oral health literacy (OHL) and the oral health status of their children in an Asian population.MethodsA random sample of 301 child/caregiver dyads was recruited from kindergartens in Hong Kong. Two locally-developed and validated OHL assessment tasks were administered to caregivers with Hong Kong Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry-30 (HKREALD-30) assessing word recognition and Hong Kong Oral Health Literacy Assessment Task for Paediatric Dentistry (HKOHLAT-P) assessing comprehension. Their children's oral health status was assessed [dental caries experience - decayed, missing, filled teeth index - (dmft) and oral hygiene status - Visible Plaque Index (VPI)].ResultsCaregivers' literacy was associated with children's oral health status. The HKOHLAT-P had a stronger association with children's oral health than HKREALD-30. HKOHLAT-P and HKREALD-30 remained associated with dmft in the adjusted negative binomial regression models (accounting for socio-demographics), Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) 0.97, p = 0.02, and 0.96, p = 0.03, respectively. In the adjusted model, HKOHLAT-P was associated with VPI (IRR 0.90, p < 0.05), but no association between HKREALD-30 and VPI was evident.ConclusionThe main conclusion of this study was that caregiver oral health literacy was associated with their child's oral health status. A comprehension instrument had a more robust association with children's oral status than a word recognition instrument.Practice implicationsThis study has implications for general public health education for designing community-level interventions.