ORAL HEALTH LITERACY AND ORAL HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE AMONG PERUVIAN CHILDREN

Abstract

Objective: To determine the relationship between the level of oral health literacy among parental caregiver and the oral health-related quality of life of 11- and 12-year-old children belonging to a non-governmental organization in Peru. Materials and methods: An observational, crosssectional, and correlational study was conducted on a sample of 208 caregiver-child pairs. Oral health literacy was assessed using the HeLD-14 instrument, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) using the CHILD-OIDP questionnaire, both validated in the Peruvian population. Inferential analysis was performed using the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman’s correlation. A Poisson regression model with robust variances was applied, for which the variable “impact on quality of life” was dichotomized. A significance level of 5% was considered. Results: The average oral health literacy score of the caregiver parents was 27.2 ± 7.6. A predominantly severe impact (48.56%) was observed, followed by a moderate impact (38.46%) on children’s oral health-related quality of life. A strong negative correlation (Rho = –0.793; p <0.05) was found between the oral health literacy of the parent caregiver and the child’s HRQoL. A PR of 0.88 was obtained; 95% CI [0.86–0.89]; p < 0.001. Conclusion: As the primary caregiver’s oral health literacy increases, the severity of the impact on children’s oral health-related quality of life decreases.