Oral Health Literacy Among Carers Of Special Needs Children In Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Oral health literacy (OHL) is important in empowering people to improve their general and oral health.Carers’ OHL may be associated with their ability to deliver good oral healthcare to their children. The aimof this pilot study was to assess the OHL among carers of special needs children. This is a descriptivecross-sectional study of carers in four Community-Based Rehabilitation Centre. Data were collectedthrough a structured face-to-face interview of 40 carers. Oral Health Literacy Malay Version (OHLI-M)was measured using text passages and prompts with a total of 57 items. These items were used toassess comprehension and numerical ability of carers based on domains namely, accessing dental care,understand appointment and following medication instructions. The results showed that majority of theparticipants had ‘marginal’ and ‘adequate’ OHL level of 32.5% and 52.5%, respectively. Only four (10%)participants had ‘inadequate’ OHL level. The ‘reading comprehension’ and ‘numeracy’ sections’ meanscores were 37.54 (95% CI 35.7-39.4) and 38.17 (95% CI 34.8-41.6). The total OHL mean score was75.7 (95% CI 71.2-80.2). In conclusion, majority of the carers of special needs children in this sample hadmoderate OHL. Such information is important to develop more appropriate intervention programmes forcarers to match their OHL.