Community dentistry and oral epidemiology | 2021
Family cohesion and attention deficit exert an influence on visits to the dentist in early adolescence.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES\nTo determine whether family environment, signs of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oral health literacy (OHL) are associated with visits to the dentist in adolescents.\n\n\nMETHODS\nA school-based cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of 448 12-year-old adolescents enrolled at schools in the city of Cajazeiras, Brazil. The adolescents answered a validated questionnaire addressing family cohesion and adaptability (FACES III), an OHL measure (Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry [BREALD-30]) and a questionnaire addressing the history of visits to the dentist and previous toothache experience. The parents answered a questionnaire addressing sociodemographic characteristics. Parents and teachers answered the inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity subscales of the Swanson, Nolan & Pelham (SNAP-IV) questionnaire for the detection of signs of ADHD. Multiple Poisson regression with robust variance was used for data analysis (α\xa0=\xa05%).\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe prevalence of having visited a dentist some time in life was higher among adolescents with enmeshed (PR\xa0=\xa01.08; 95% CI: 1.01-1.15) and connected (PR\xa0=\xa01.06; 95% CI: 1.01-1.13) families and those with attention deficit according to parents reports (PR\xa0=\xa01.09; 95% CI: 1.04-1.14). A family income higher than the Brazilian minimum wage (PR\xa0=\xa01.06; 95% CI: 1.01-1.12) and toothache in the previous six months (PR\xa0=\xa01.05; 95% CI: 1.01-1.11) were also associated with the outcome.\n\n\nCONCLUSION\nFamily cohesion and attention deficit according to parental reports influenced visits to the dentist among adolescents. In contrast, OHL was not associated with the outcome.