Oral Health among Iranian Preadolescents : A School-Based Health Education Intervention

The present study assessed oral health and its determinants among Iranian preadolescents, and evaluated a school-based health education programme aimed to promote their oral health. The target population of this study comprised a random sample of the third-grade school children (n = 459) of all public primary schools in 19 areas of Tehran city. The data came from a clinical examination of the children and two self-administered questionnaires: one for children, and one for mothers. The clinical dental examination was performed for recording children's oral health. The mothers' questionnaires covered background factors, oral self-care (OSC) behaviours and oral health-related knowledge and attitude statements. After baseline data collection, a community trial was designed as a 3-month school-based intervention study. For the intervention trial, the third-grade classes as the clusters were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. Three kinds of intervention were implemented, one in class, one via the parents, and one as a combination of these. One group served as controls with no intervention. The outcome measures of the study were changes in plaque and bleeding scores recorded. The results showed that mean dmft was 3.75 (SD = 2.8) for the primary teeth and mean DMFT was 0.4 (SD = 0.9) for the permanent teeth. All children had plaque on at least one index tooth and bleeding on probing in at least one index tooth occurred in 81%. About one-third (34%) of the children reported favourable OSC and less than half (46%) of the children reported brushing their teeth at least twice daily. Girls reported favourable OSC (OR = 2.0), had decay-free teeth (OR = 1.8) and treated permanent teeth (OR = 3.3) more than did boys. Mother's oral health-related aspects, i.e., mother's favourable OSC, high knowledge levels of and positive attitudes towards oral health, and active supervision of the child's tooth brushing had a positive effect on all aspects of children's oral health status and behaviours (ORs from 1.3 to 1.9). After the intervention, the results showed a strong intervention effect on healthy gingiva in both groups where parents were involved: the parental-aid group (OR = 7.7, 95% CI 2.2-27.7) and combined group (OR = 6.6, 95% CI 2.0-22.1). To improve children's oral health, community school-based oral health educational programmes should be established to include all primary schools. These programmes should benefit from the common risk factor approach and a multi-sectored approach to employ for communication between the community, the school, and the family. Oral health interventions should empower the parents' ability to improve their own oral health behaviour and then to transfer that healthy behaviour to their children.

Dental health and school-based health education among 15-year-olds in Tehran, Iran

The aim of the present study was to assess dental health and its determinants among 15-year-olds in Tehran, Iran and to evaluate the impact of a school-based educational intervention on their oral cleanliness and gingival health. The total sample comprised 506 students. Data collection was performed through a clinical dental examination and a self-administered structured questionnaire. This questionnaire covered the student s background information, socio-economic status, self-perceived dental health, tooth-brushing, and smoking. The clinical dental examination covered caries experience, gingival status, dental plaque status, and orthodontic treatment needs. Participation was voluntary, and all students responded to the questionnaire. Only three students refused the clinical dental examination. The intervention was based on exposing students to dental health education through a leaflet and a videotape designed for the present study. The outcome examinations took place 12 weeks after the baseline among the three groups of the intervention trial (leaflet, videotape, and control). High participation rates at the baseline and scanty drop-outs (7%) in the intervention speak for reliability of the results. Mean value of the DMFT (D=decayed, M=missing, and F=filled teeth) index of the 15-year-olds was 2.1, which comprised DT=0.9, MT=0.2, and FT=1.0 with no gender differences. Dental plaque existed on at least one index tooth of all students, and healthy periodontium (Community Periodontal Index=0) was found in less than 10% of students. Need for caries treatment existed in 40% of students, for scaling in 24%, for oral hygiene instructions in all, and for orthodontic treatment in 26%. Students with the highest level of parents education had fewer dental caries (36% vs. 48%) and less dental plaque (77% vs. 88%). Of all students, 78% assessed their dental health as good or better. Even more of those with their DMFT=0 (73% vs. 27%) and DT=0 (68% vs. 32%) assessed their dental health as good or better. Smokers comprised 5% of the boys and 2% of the girls. Smoking was common among students of less-educated parents (6% vs. 3%). Of all students, 26% reported twice-daily tooth-brushing; girls (38% vs. 15%) and those of higher socio-economic background (33% vs. 17%) did so more frequently. The best predictors for a good level of oral cleanliness were female gender or twice-daily tooth-brushing. The present study demonstrated that a school-based educational intervention can be effective in the short term in improving the oral cleanliness and gingival health of adolescents. At least 50% reduction in numbers of teeth with dental plaque compared to baseline was achieved by 58% of the students in the leaflet group, by 37% in the videotape group, and by 10% of the controls. Corresponding figures for gingival bleeding were 72%, 64%, and 30%. For improving the oral cleanliness and gingival health of adolescents in countries such as Iran with a developing oral health system, school-based educational intervention should be established with focus on oral self-care and oral health education messages. Emphasizing the immediate gains from good oral hygiene, such as fresh breath, clean teeth, and attractive appearance should be key aspects for motivating these adolescents to learn and maintain good dental health, whilst in planning school-based dental health intervention, special attention should be given to boys and those with lower socio-economic status. Author s address: Reza Yazdani, Department of Oral Public Health, Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 41, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: reza.yazdani@helsinki.fi

Dental Service Utilization, Dental Health Production and Equity in Dental Care: the Finnish Experience

This thesis is grounded on four articles. Article I generally examines the factors affecting dental service utilization. Article II studies the factors associated with sector-specific utilization among young adults entitled to age-based subsidized dental care. Article III explores the determinants of dental ill-health as measured by the occurrence of caries and the relationship between dental ill-health and dental care use. Article IV measures and explains income-related inequality in utilization. Data employed were from the 1996 Finnish Health Care Survey (I, II, IV) and the 1997 follow-up study included in the longitudinal study of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort (III). Utilization is considered as a multi-stage decision-making process and measured as the number of visits to the dentist. Modified count data models and concentration and horizontal equity indices were applied. Dentist s recall appeared very efficient at stimulating individuals to seek care. Dental pain, recall, and the low number of missing teeth positively affected utilization. Public subvention for dental care did not seem to statistically increase utilization. Among young adults, a perception of insufficient public service availability and recall were positively associated with the choice of a private dentist, whereas income and dentist density were positively associated with the number of visits to private dentists. Among cohort females, factors increasing caries were body mass index and intake of alcohol, sugar, and soft drinks and those reducing caries were birth weight and adolescent school achievement. Among cohort males, caries was positively related to the metropolitan residence and negatively related to healthy diet and education. Smoking increased caries, whereas regular teeth brushing, regular dental attendance and dental care use decreased caries. We found equity in young adults utilization but pro-rich inequity in the total number of visits to all dentists and in the probability of visiting a dentist for the whole sample. We observed inequity in the total number of visits to the dentist and in the probability of visiting a dentist, being pro-poor for public care but pro-rich for private care. The findings suggest that to enhance equal access to and use of dental care across population and income groups, attention should focus on supply factors and incentives to encourage people to contact dentists more often. Lowering co-payments and service fees and improving public availability would likely increase service use in both sectors. To attain favorable oral health, appropriate policies aimed at improving dental health education and reducing the detrimental effects of common risk factors on dental health should be strengthened. Providing equal access with respect to need for all people ought to take account of the segmentation of the service system, with its two parallel delivery systems and different supplier incentives to patients and dentists.

Exploring primary school sex education in Greece : policies and praxis

This study examines how sex education is currently developed and implemented in Greek primary schools. The four publications that comprise it explore the following themes: (1) the position and visibility of sex education as one of the topics for health education programme development; (2) the inhibiting and enhancing factors in the development and implementation of primary school sex education programmes; (3) how issues of sex, sexuality, the human body and romantic relationships are visually and textually represented in primary school textbooks; (4) the impact of sex education on teachers and pupils; and (5) teachers experiences as practitioners who deal with sexuality- related issues at school. -- The research was based on conducting multiple sub-studies using a mixed-methods approach. Specifically, qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed. The initial quantitative data that had been obtained by questionnaire was followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data. The qualitative data were acquired by way of examining one particular case, various texts, interviews with teachers and self-reflective material. The results of the sub-studies are presented in a more detailed manner in the study s four publications. -- In general, the sub-studies found that sex education as an educational activity occupies a marginal place within the instructional practices of Greek primary school teachers, since the subject is hardly mentioned in classroom material, such as textbooks. However, engaging in the provision of sex education programmes can become a meaningful and rewarding experience for many teachers as well as pupils and their families. Further, teachers classroom experiences pointed to school settings as sexualized environments. These contextual factors and conditions nevertheless affected teachers practices and perceptions on a personal and professional level.Health indicators in Greece provide a picture of a population that faces various sexual health related problems. However, as many studies (including this work) indicate, sex education programmes that meet specific standards can have a positive impact on students overall health and well-being. Sex education teaching has always been a controversial issue. Its successful implementation in Greece demands knowledgeable educators and responsible policy-makers. The findings of this study suggest that the content of Greek primary school textbooks needs to be revised in order to include texts and pictures that deal with the human body and human sexuality, encourage pupils to become involved in designing the content and methods of programmes and give teachers the opportunity to reflect on and discuss their experiences. Keywords: sex education, primary school, Greece

Periodontal and dental health and oral self-care among adults with diabetes mellitus.

ABSTRACT Bakhshandeh, Soheila. Periodontal and dental health and oral self-care among adults with diabetes mellitus. Department of Oral Public Health, Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. 2011. 49 pp. ISBN 978-952-10-7193-5(paperback). The aim of the present study was to assess oral health and treatment needs among Iranian adults with diabetes according to socio-demographic status, oral hygiene, diabetes related factors, and to investigate the relation between these determinants and oral health. Moreover, the effect of an educational oral health promotion intervention on their oral health and periodontal treatment needs was studied. The target population comprised adults with diabetes in Tehran, Iran. 299 dentate patients with diabetes, who were regular attendants to a diabetic clinic, were selected as the study subjects. Data collection was performed through a clinical dental examination and self-administered structured questionnaire. The questionnaire covered information of the subject s social background, medical history, oral health behaviour and smoking. The clinical dental examinations covered the registration of caries experience (DMFT), community periodontal index (CPI) and plaque index (PI). The intervention provided the adults with diabetes dental health education through a booklet. Reduction in periodontal treatment needs one year after the baseline examination was used as the main outcome. A high prevalence of periodontal pockets among the study population was found; 52% of the participants had periodontal pockets with a pocket depth of 4 to 5 mm and 35% had periodontal pockets with pocket depth of 6 mm or more. The mean of the DMFT index was 12.9 (SD=6.1), being dominated by filled teeth (mean 6.5) and missing teeth (mean 5.0). Oral self-care among adults with diabetes was inadequate and poor oral hygiene was observed in more than 80% of the subjects. The educational oral health promotion decreased periodontal treatment needs more in the study groups than in the control group. The poor periodontal health, poor oral hygiene and insufficient oral self-care observed in this study call for oral health promotion among adult with diabetes. An educational intervention showed that it is possible to promote oral health behaviour and to reduce periodontal treatment needs among adults with diabetes. The simplicity of the model used in this study allows it to be integrated to diabetes programmes in particular in countries with a developing health care system.

Cancer incidence, mortality, and pregnancy outcome among women treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Cervical cancer develops through precursor lesions, i.e. cervical intraepithelialneoplasms (CIN). These can be detected and treated before progression to invasive cancer. The major risk factor for developing cervical cancer or CIN is persistent or recurrent infection with high-risk human papilloma virus (hrHPV). Other associated risk factors include low socioeconomic status, smoking, sexually transmitted infections, and high number of sexual partners, and these risk factors can predispose to some other cancers, excess mortality, and reproductive health complications as well. The aim was to study long-term cancer incidence, mortality, and reproductive health outcomes among women treated for CIN. Based on the results, we could evaluate the efficacy and safety of CIN treatment practices and estimate the role of the risk factors of CIN patients for cancer incidence, mortality, and reproductive health. We collected a cohort of 7 599 women treated for CIN at Helsinki University Central Hospital from 1974 to 2001. Information about their cancer incidence, cause of death, birth of children and other reproductive endpoints, and socio-economic status were gathered through registerlinkages to the Finnish Cancer Registry, Finnish Population Registry, and Statistics Finland. Depending on the endpoints in question, the women treated were compared to the general population, to themselves, or to an age- and municipality-matched reference cohort. Cervical cancer incidence was increased after treatment of CIN for at least 20 years, regardless of the grade of histology at treatment. Compared to all of the colposcopically guided methods, cold knife conization (CKC) was the least effective method of treatment in terms of later CIN 3 or cervical cancer incidence. In addition to cervical cancer, incidence of other HPV-related anogenital cancers was increased among those treated, as was the incidence of lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers. Mortality from cervical cancer among the women treated was not statistically significantly elevated, and after adjustment for socio-economic status, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.0. In fact, the excess mortality among those treated was mainly due to increased mortality from other cancers, especially from lung cancer. In terms of post-treatment fertility, the CIN treatments seem to be safe: The women had more deliveries, and their incidence of pregnancy was similar before and after treatment. Incidence of extra-uterine pregnancies and induced abortions was elevated among the treated both before and after treatment. Thus this elevation did not occur because they were treated rather to a great extent was due to the other known risk factors these women had in excess, i.e. sexually transmitted infections. The purpose of any cancer preventive activity is to reduce cancer incidence and mortality. In Finland, cervical cancer is a rare disease and death from it even rarer, mostly due to the effective screening program. Despite this, the women treated are at increased risk for cancer; not just for cervical cancer. They must be followed up carefully and for a long period of time; general health education, especially cessation of smoking, is crucial in the management process, as well as interventions towards proper use of birth control such as condoms.

Kansanterveysongelman synty : Tuberkuloosi ja terveyden hallinta Suomessa ennen toista maailmansotaa

The study focuses on the emergence of tuberculosis as a public health problem and the development of the various methods to counteract it in Finland before the introduction of efficient methods of treatment in the 1940s and 50s. It covers a time period from year 1882 when the tuberculosis bacterium was identified to the 1930s when the early formation of tuberculosis work became established in Finland. During this time there occurred important changes in medicine, public health thinking and methods of personal health care that have been referred to as the bacteriological revolution. The study places tuberculosis prevention in this context and shows how the tuberculosis problem affected the government of health on all these three dimensions. The study is based on foucauldian analytics of government, which is supplemented with perspectives from contemporary science and technology studies. In addition, it utilises a broad array of work in medical history. The central research materials consist of medical journals, official programs and documents on tuberculosis policy, and health education texts. The general conclusions of the study are twofold. Firstly, the ensemble of tuberculosis work was formed from historically diverse and often conflicting elements. The identification of the pathogen was only the first step in the establishment of tuberculosis as a major public health problem. Important were also the attention of the science of hygiene and statistical reasoning that dominated public health thinking in the late 19th century. Furthermore, the adoption of the bacteriological tuberculosis doctrine in medicine, public health work and health education was profoundly influenced by previous understanding of the nature of the illness, of medical work, of the prevention of contagious diseases, and of personal health care. Also the two central institutions of tuberculosis work, sanatorium and dispensary, have heterogeneous origins and multifarious functions. Secondly, bacteriology represented in this study by tuberculosis remodelled medical knowledge and practices, the targets and methods of public health policy, and the doctrine of personal health care. Tuberculosis provided a strong argument for specific causes (if not cures) as well as laboratory methods in medicine. Tuberculosis prevention contributed substantially to the development whereby a comprehensive responsibility for the health of the population and public health work was added to the agenda of the state. Health advice on tuberculosis and other contagious diseases used dangerous bacteria to motivate personal health care and redefined it as protecting oneself from the attacks of external pathogens and strengthening oneself against their effects. Thus, tuberculosis work is one important root for the contemporary public concern for the health of the population and the imperative of personal health care.

Mihin ryhmään itse haluat kuulua? : Kahdessa yläkoulun terveystiedon oppikirjassa rakentuvien terveysdiskurssien ja subjektipositioiden diskurssianalyyttistä tarkastelua

In the study, two upper elementary school health education textbooks were investigated. The purpose of the study was to examine the health discourses and subject- and reader positions constructed in text. Theoretically, the study is based on poststructuralist thought and critical sociology of health promotion. Methodologically, it draws mainly on critical lingvistics and new rhetorics. Textbooks were understood as informative, argumentative and persuasive texts in which different lexical and grammatical methods to secure the readers´ responsiveness were utilized. Also, the relations of the text to wider genres, social situations, structures, institutions and practices were investigated. The interpersonal and ideational dimensions of the texts were analysed with the aim of finding out the kinds of identities for and relations between the speaker and the ideal reader were constructed and the kinds of representations of health and the world around were produced in the textbooks. Multiple discourses of health, and genres and styles characteristic for many kinds of contexts and situations were found. The identities of and the relationships between the speaker and the ideal reader of the text were also multiple and changing. The text echoes both biomedical health discourse emphasizing prevention of illness and holistic discourse emphasizing personal welfare, fulfillment and happiness. Furthermore, traces for example from development psychological, ecological and civilization critical discourses were perceived. Formal scientific genre was found to be mixed with informal chatting imitating close and equal relationship between participants characteristic for advertisements and other persuasive texts, and obliging and ordering expression typical for school context and other situations where the relationship between participants is unequal and distant. The ideal reader of the text can be characterized as adolescent living in the world saturated by advertising and media. He or she is interested in the life of the celebrities, and is interested rather in her or his appearance, image and short-term enjoyment than health and long-term welfare. In the textbooks, healthy way of life is attempted to create a product which appeals to the values and interests of the imaginary public, the ideal reader of the text. Marketing healthy choices tend to reproduce stereotyped ideas of happiness, good life, youth and sex. Furthermore, individualizing approach mixed with wide definition of health legitimizes easily an erraneous impression of health, beauty and success being personal achievements dependent only on attitudes and competences.

Precarious Pregnancies : Alcohol, drugs and the regulation of risks

Since the 1970s alcohol and drug use by pregnant women has become a target of political, professional and personal concern. The present study focuses on prenatal substance use and the regulation of risks by examining different kinds of societal responses to prenatal alcohol and drug use. The study analyses face-to-face encounters between professionals and service users at a specialised maternity clinic for pregnant women with substance abuse problems, medical and political discourses on the compulsory treatment of pregnant women as a means of FAS prevention and official recommendations on alcohol intake during pregnancy. Moreover, the study addresses the women s perspective by asking how women who have used illicit drugs during pregnancy perceive and rank the dangers linked to drug use. The study consists of five empirical sub-studies and a summary article. Sub-study I was written in collaboration with Dorte Hecksher and Sub-study IV with Riikka Perälä. Theoretically the study builds on the one hand, on the socio-cultural approach to the selection and perception of risks and on the other on governmentality studies which focus on the use of power in contemporary Western societies. The study is based on an ethnographic approach and makes use of the principles of multi-sited ethnography. The empirical sub-studies are based on three different types of qualitative data: ethnographic field notes from a maternity clinic from a period of 7 months, documentary material (medical journals, political documents, health education materials, government reports) and 3) interviews from maternity clinics with clients and members of staff. The study demonstrates that the logic of the regulation of prenatal alcohol use in Finland is characterised by the rise of the foetus , a process in which the urgency of protecting the foetus has gradually gained a more prominent role in the discourses on alcohol-related foetal damage. An increasing unwillingness to accept any kinds of risks when foetal health is at stake is manifested in the public debate on the compulsory treatment of pregnant women with alcohol problems and in the health authorities decision to advise pregnant women to refrain from alcohol use during pregnancy (Sub-studies I and II). Secondly, the study suggests that maternity care professionals have an ambivalent role in their mundane encounters with their pregnant clients: on the one hand professionals focus on the well-being of the foetus, but on the other, they need to take into account the women s needs and agency. The professionals daily encounters with their clients are thus characterised by hybridisation: the simultaneous use of technologies of domination and technologies of agency (Sub-studies III and IV). Finally, the study draws attention to the women s understanding of the risks of illicit drug during pregnancy, and shows that the women s understanding of risk differs from the bio-medical view. The study suggests that when drug-using pregnant women seek professional help they can feel that their moral worth is threatened by professionals negative attitudes which can make service-use challenging.