International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry

Register      Login

VOLUME 13 , ISSUE 2 ( March-April, 2020 ) > List of Articles

Original Article

Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Postgraduate Students of Panjab University, Chandigarh: A Cross-sectional Study

Sidhi Passi

Keywords : Attitude, Knowledge, Oral health, Questionnaire, Students

Citation Information : Passi S. Oral Health Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices among Postgraduate Students of Panjab University, Chandigarh: A Cross-sectional Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020; 13 (2):113-118.

DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10005-1717

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 23-07-2020

Copyright Statement:  Copyright © 2020; The Author(s).


Abstract

Background: Dental caries and periodontal diseases are the most commonly occurring dental problems. Proper knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) of oral health of young adults will help in prevention of these diseases. Aim: To comparatively evaluate the oral health KAPs related to oral health of postgraduate students of Panjab University, Chandigarh, with respect to gender and different departments. Setting and design: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted using a questionnaire that assessed KAPs of postgraduate students, aged 17–25 years. Materials and methods: This survey was undertaken on 600 postgraduate students of Panjab University, Chandigarh. The sample was divided into 3 groups: group I—arts students (n = 200), group II—science students (n = 200), and group III—commerce students (n = 200). Data were collected and subjected to statistical analysis. Statistical analysis used: Chi-squared test was used for comparison between different groups. ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis compared the data between different departments, and Mann–Whitney U test between males and females. Results: The students of arts had significantly lesser knowledge of oral health compared with other departments. About 65% arts students believed that sweets/soft drinks/chips were causing tooth decay compared with 83% science and 80% commerce students (p value < 0.001). About 52.5% arts students had knowledge that blood on the toothbrush was indicative of gum disease followed by 67% science and 76% commerce students (p value < 0.001). Conclusion: In our study, there was no significant difference in gender with respect to KAPs of oral health but a significant difference was observed among different departments with arts students showing significantly lesser knowledge.


HTML PDF Share
  1. Gasgoos SS, Jazrawi KH, Al-Ajrab MG. Dental health knowledge, attitude and behavior among first year university students, Mosul. Al-Rafidain Dent J 2007;7(2):138–152. DOI: 10.33899/rden.2007.8952.
  2. Singh S, Pottapinjara S. Dental undergraduate students’ knowledge, attitudes and practices in oral health self-care: A survey from a South African university. Afr J Health Prof Educ 2017;9(2):83–87.
  3. Astrom AN, Watiti J, Mwangosi E. Knowledge, beliefs and behavior related to oral health among Tanzanian and Ugandan teacher trainees. Acta Odontol Scand 2000;58(1):11–18. DOI: 10.1080/000163500429370.
  4. Kassak KM, Dagher R, Doughan B. Oral hygiene and lifestyle correlates among new undergraduate University students Lebanon. J Am Coll Health 2001;50(1):15–17. DOI: 10.1080/07448480109595706.
  5. Kumar S, Motwani K, Dak N, et al. Dental health behavior in relation to caries status among medical and dental undergraduate students of Udaipur district, India. Int J Dent Hyg 2010;8(2):86–94. DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5037.2008.00346.x.
  6. Reddy V, Bennadi D, Gaduputi S, et al. Oral health related knowledge, attitude, and practice among the pre-university students of Mysore city. J Int Soc Prev Community Dent 2014;4(3):154–158. DOI: 10.4103/2231-0762.142012.
  7. Al Subait A, Ali A, Alehaideb A, et al. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Oral Health among University Students in Saudi Arabia; a Cross-Sectional Study. J Dent Oral Disord 2017;3(6):1080. DOI: 10.26420/jdentoraldisord.2017.1080.
  8. Carneiro L, Kabulwa M, Makyao M, et al. Oral health knowledge and practices of secondary school students, Tanga, Tanzania. Int. J Dent 2011;2011:806258. DOI: 10.1155/2011/806258.
  9. Al-Omiri MK, Al-Wahadni AM, Saeed KN. Oral health attitudes, knowledge, and behavior among school children in North Jordan. J Dent Educ 2006;70(2):179–187.
  10. Gupta S, Saxena S, Sikka N, et al. Oral health attitude, knowledge and behavior of dental students of Jaipur, Rajasthan: A Comparative study. J Indian Assos Public Health Dent 2015;13(4):459–464. DOI: 10.4103/2319-5932.171179.
  11. Bradnock G, White DA, Nuttall NM, et al. Dental attitudes and behaviors in 1998 and implications for the future. Br Dent J 2001;190(5):228–232. DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.4800935.
  12. Farsi JMA, Farghaly MM, Farsi N. Oral health knowledge, attitude and behavior among Saudi school students in Jeddah city. J Dent 2004;32(1):47–53. DOI: 10.1016/j.jdent.2003.08.002.
  13. Gopikrishan V, Bhaskar NN, Kulkarni SB, et al. Knowledge, attitude and practices of oral hygiene among college students in Bengaluru city. J Indian Assoc Public Health Dent 2016;14(1):75–79. DOI: 10.4103/2319-5932.178726.
  14. Sharda AJ, Shetty S. A comparative study of oral health knowledge, attitude and behaviour of first and final year dental students of Udaipur city, Rajasthan, India. Int J Dent Hyg 2008;6(4):347–353. DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-5037.2008.00308.x.
  15. Polychronopoulou A, Kawamura M, Athanasouli T. Oral self-care behavior among dental school students in Greece. J Oral Sci 2002;44(2):73–78. DOI: 10.2334/josnusd.44.73.
  16. Al-Omari QD, Hamasha AA. Gender-specific oral health attitudes and behavior among dental students in Jordan. J Contemp Dent Pract 2005;6(1):107–114. DOI: 10.5005/jcdp-6-1-107.
  17. Jiang H, Peterson PE, Peng B, et al. Self assessed dental health, oral health practices, and general health behaviors in Chinese urban adolescents. Acta Odontol Scand 2005;63(6):343–352. DOI: 10.1080/00016350500216982.
  18. Al Shammari KF, Al-Ansari JM, Al Khabbaz AK, et al. Self reported oral hygiene habits and oral health problems of Kuwait adults. Med Princ Pract 2007;16(1):15–21. DOI: 10.1159/000096134.
  19. Sen N, Mandal A, Bhat N, et al. Oral health knowledge, attitude and practices among patients attending the department of public health dentistry of a dental hospital in Udaipur India. Int J Prev Clin Dent Res 2017;4(1):43–49. DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10052-0079.
  20. Khami MR, Virtanen JI, Jafarian M, et al. Oral health behavior and its determinants amongst Iranian dental students. Eur J Dent Educ 2007;11(1):42–47. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0579.2007.00424.x.
PDF Share
PDF Share

© Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) LTD.