Associations between oral health behaviors and oral health related quality of life among prisoners in KhonKaen central prison

Abstract

             This cross-sectional study investigated the associations between oral health behaviors and oral health-related quality of life among prisoners in KhonKaen central prison, Thailand. Data were collected from 245 prisoners using questionnaires, including 1) oral health behaviours that comprised knowledge, attitude and oral care practice, and 2) Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) with internal reliability of subscales accounted for 0.76, 0.76, 0.74, and 0.93, respectively. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and spearman’s rank correlation coefficients.

            The results showed that most prisoners had oral health care knowledge at the low level (73.1 %), oral health care attitude at the high level (50.2%) and oral care practice at the moderate level (71.2%). In relation to oral health related quality of life, the majority of prisoners considered themselves to have poor oral health (38.9%) and had some effects on the routine (40.8%). Two third of the prisoners did not receive any dental treatment last year. The knowledge for oral health care had significant positive relationship to the attitude and practices with small extents ( 12rs">  = 0.13; p-value = 0.046 and 12rs"> = 0.20; p-value = 0.002, respectively). Oral health behaviors were not significantly related to oral health related quality of life (P >0.05).

            To conclude, the study suggests that dental personnel and stakeholders should promote the oral health, and provide knowledge as well as proactive dental care services. This will help develop oral health behaviors and oral health related quality of life among prisoners.