Factors Related to the Implementation of Dental Health in Schools of Health Personnel at Primary Care Units, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

The purposes of this research were to study: personal factors, role perception, competency for school dental health implementation, support from relevant agencies, and implementation of dental health in schools; the relationships between those factors and the implementation of dental health in schools; problems, obstacles and recommendations in the implementation of dental health in schools of health personnel at primary care units in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. The study was conducted on a sample of 175 health personnel, who were responsible for dental health in schools and were not dental staff, selected using the simple random method. The instrument used was a questionnaire with the reliability of 0.97. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The research findings revealed the following: most of health personnel responsible for dental health in schools were female with an average age of 38.11 years, attained a bachelor's degree, held a public health technical officer's position. Their role perception, competency and the implementation of dental health in schools were at a high level, whereas the support from relevant agencies was at a moderate level. The factors significantly and positively related to the implementation of dental health in schools were role perception, competency, and support from relevant agencies at p-value <.001. The most prominent problems and obstacles found were the lack of skills for examination and diagnosis of oral diseases. It is thus recommended that health personnel should be trained in examination and diagnosis of oral diseases.