Impact of contextual school and home environmental characteristics on oral health-related quality of life among 11-14 years old children residing in Sri Ganganagar city

• Published in: The journal of the Indian Association of Public Health Dentistry 2020-04, Vol.18 (2), p.118-123
• Main Authors: Leimaton, Thounaojam, Singh, Simarpreet, Batra, Manu, Gijwani, Deeksha, Shukla, Sakshi, Mangal, Parul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: child; Children; Oral health; quality of life; schools
• ISSN: 2319-5932; 2350-0484
• DOI: 10.4103/jiaphd.jiaphd_86_19

Background: Environment has shown a significant impact on day-to-day activities like psychological well-being, including oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among children. Aim: To assess the impact of contextual school and home environmental characteristics on OHRQoL among 11-14 years old children residing in Sri Ganganagar city. Materials and Methods: A convenience sample of 345 children aged 11-14 years old were recruited. The present cross-sectional study was conducted among school-going children in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, during November 2018-January 2019. Data were collected on demographic characteristics along with OHRQoL using Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (C-OIDP) index. A prevalidated questionnaire used to collect data on contextual school and home environmental characteristics, oral hygiene, and dental caries were recorded using Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) and Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) index, respectively. The data were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics Windows, Version 21.0. (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp). Mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test, t-test, and multivariable Poisson regressions models were analyzed for this study, and the level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The mean C-OIDP extent was significantly higher in 11-year-old (6.11 ± 4.53) (P = 0.008), among those who were living with single parents with a less maternal level of education (