The Effects of the Program for an Application of the Health Belief Model and the Impacts of Oral Health on Daily Life Competency of the Elderly in Roi Et Province

Abstract

This research aimed to examine the effects of the program for an application of the health belief model and the impacts of oral health on daily life competency of the elderly in Tambon Nong Kaeo, Amphur Mueang, Roi Et Province. The sample consisted of 60 people, aged 60-74 years. They
were divided into an experimental group and a comparison group, 30 aged people each, selected using a voluntarily technique to participate in conducting the research. The instruments used for collecting data were dental education program for an application of Becker's health belief model, an interview form constructed based on the research purposes applying Becker's health belief model, and an evaluation form on the impacts of oral health upon daily life competency using OIDP index. The statistics used for analyzing the collected data were percentage, mean, and standard deviation; and the statistics used for testing hypotheses were paired t-test and independent t-test. The findings revealed that after the experiment, the elderly in the experimental group gained in their knowledge involving dental caries, periodontitis, correct method of tooth brushing, selecting useful food consumption, and perception of risk opportunity, perception of severity, perception of good outcomes of following: the advice, perceptions of obstacles and self-behaving to prevent dental caries and periodontitis from before the experiment and showed higher than the comparison group at the 0.05 level of significance (p<0.05). As for the impacts of oral health after the experiment, it was found that the comparison group showed the impacts on food consumption competency the most. The frequency occurred 1-5 days (56.7 percent), severity occurred much (50 percent), main symptoms were from aches (33.3 percent), the causes were from tooth-aches and mobility of teeth. The experimental group showed the impacts on food consumption competency (the most). The frequency occurred 1-5 days (33.3 percent), moderate severity (26.7 percent), main symptoms were from annoyance (36.7 percent), the causes were from tooth-aches and mobility of teeth.