Are educating and promoting interventions effective in oral health?: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

It is estimated that about 20%-25% of the world's population are suffering from periodontal diseases or severe gum diseases. This requires appropriate interventions. For the development of effective and evidence-based programmes tailored to the target group, the aim of this review was to survey to the effectiveness of oral health education and promotion interventions in the relevant groups of people.

METHODS

The electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science and Cochrane Library were searched for English language studies between 2010 and (January-December) 2016. To assess the quality of articles, the checklist was used that includes 19 items. Studies were selected based on PICOs criteria, and finally, 16 studies were entered in our study.

RESULTS

A total of 16 articles were selected, classified into two groups (A and B groups), so that group A with short-term effects includes improving knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, oral health behaviour (toothbrushing and flossing), theoretical constructs (perceived susceptibility, perceived severity and perceived behavioural control) which consists of 15 articles and group B with long-term effects includes improving decayed teeth, plaque, calculus and bleeding which consists of six articles.

CONCLUSION

Approximately, this study supports effectiveness of all oral health education and promotion interventions, especially in short-term outcomes. Regarding the importance of long-term and short-term outcomes for oral health education and promotion programmes, These interventions could be performed in the future with several target groups including family and teachers.

Osteoporosis-related knowledge among students of a medical sciences university in Iran: calcium intake and physical activity

Introduction: Osteoporosis has increased the burden of diseases worldwide and in all populations. It is far more common among women than among men. The current research tried to investigate the health faculty students' awareness of osteoporosis (calcium intake and physical activity). Materials & methods: A descriptive-analytical research was conducted on 239 students in the health faculty, who voluntarily participated in this study and chose to use the census instancing approach. The information gathered employed a standardized questionnaire including 9 demographic questions, and 24 questions about osteoporosis were fed into SPSS 18 statistical software, t-test, Pearson's correlation, and one-way ANOVA. Findings: 228 students (95.4%) enrolled at the undergraduate level. They age averaged 22.17 ± 2.66. Their mean score of knowledge regarding osteoporosis was 12.96 ± 4.01 (4.67 ± 1.66 for calcium intake and 8.29 ± 2.89 for physical activity section). Only 46 (19.2%) students had a high-level knowledge of osteoporosis. There was a clear link (P < 0.05) among the students' awareness regarding the marital status, being older, being a BA student of public health, and being a MA. There was no clear link among the awareness and the students' job, parents' job, education, and family income (P > 0.05). Discussion & conclusion: Given the students' field of study, that being health sciences, their awareness about osteoporosis was poor and unacceptable. Therefore, it was essential to promote the students' knowledge and determine the causes of insufficient physical activity and calcium intake among students.