Are educating and promoting interventions effective in oral health?: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: It is estimated that about 20%-25% of the world's population are suffering from periodontal diseases or severe gum diseases. This requires appropriate interventions. For the development of effective and evidence-based programmes tailored to the target group, the aim of this review was to survey to the effectiveness of oral health education and promotion interventions in the relevant groups of people. METHODS: The electronic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Web of science and Cochrane Library were searched for English language studies between 2010 and (January-December) 2016. To assess the quality of articles, the checklist was used that includes 19 items. Studies were selected based on PICOs criteria, and finally, 16 studies were entered in our study. RESULTS: A total of 16 articles were selected, classified into two groups (A and B groups), so that group A with short-term effects includes improving knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, oral health behaviour (toothbrushing and flossing), theoretical constructs (perceived susceptibility, perceived severity and perceived behavioural control) which consists of 15 articles and group B with long-term effects includes improving decayed teeth, plaque, calculus and bleeding which consists of six articles. CONCLUSION: Approximately, this study supports effectiveness of all oral health education and promotion interventions, especially in short-term outcomes. Regarding the importance of long-term and short-term outcomes for oral health education and promotion programmes, These interventions could be performed in the future with several target groups including family and teachers.

Oral Health Education and Promotion Programmes: Meta-Analysis of 17-Year Intervention.

OBJECTIVES: Oral Health Education and Promotion Interventions (OHEPIs) focus on improving knowledge, to adopt favourable oral health behaviours that can enhance oral health and clinical oral health. However, no meta-analyses exist that evaluate the effectiveness of OHEPI programmes. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the effectiveness of oral health education and promotion programmes. METHODS: The PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and ScienceDirect databases from years 2000 to 2016 were searched. Eleven studies based on Participant, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome Study (PICOs) and quality assessment criteria were selected for the systematic review and meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of the data was carried out using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V2.0 software. As the heterogeneity of subgroups was higher than 50%, an effect random model was used for the computation of average odds ratio. RESULTS: The heterogeneity of the studies was higher than 50% (I2  = 92%, P < .001); therefore, the random effect model was used to calculate the average odds ratio. 3 subgroups, (A) programme outcomes (long- and short-term outcomes), (B) age groups and (C) the follow-up periods after the intervention, were extracted for the intervention review. Overall, programme outcome and the 3-month subgroup follow-up were both significantly increased (OR = 2. 41, CI: 1.3, 4.7; P = .005) (OR = 1.14, CI: 1.01, 1.30; P = .03) in terms of odds effectiveness of the interventions. But the age subgroups showed no significance (OR = 0.93, CI: 0.74, 1.17; P = .52) in odds effectiveness of the interventions. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that past OHEPIs are effective and positive impacts on dental visits, attitudes, as well as brushing and flossing behaviours during 3 months post-intervention among children.

Osteoporosis-related knowledge among students of a medical sciences university in Iran: calcium intake and physical activity.

Introduction: Osteoporosis has increased the burden of diseases worldwide and in all populations. It is far more common among women than among men. The current research tried to investigate the health faculty students' awareness of osteoporosis (calcium intake and physical activity). Materials & methods: A descriptive-analytical research was conducted on 239 students in the health faculty, who voluntarily participated in this study and chose to use the census instancing approach. The information gathered employed a standardized questionnaire including 9 demographic questions, and 24 questions about osteoporosis were fed into SPSS 18 statistical software, t-test, Pearson's correlation, and one-way ANOVA. Findings: 228 students (95.4%) enrolled at the undergraduate level. They age averaged 22.17 ± 2.66. Their mean score of knowledge regarding osteoporosis was 12.96 ± 4.01 (4.67 ± 1.66 for calcium intake and 8.29 ± 2.89 for physical activity section). Only 46 (19.2%) students had a high-level knowledge of osteoporosis. There was a clear link (P < 0.05) among the students' awareness regarding the marital status, being older, being a BA student of public health, and being a MA. There was no clear link among the awareness and the students' job, parents' job, education, and family income (P > 0.05). Discussion & conclusion: Given the students' field of study, that being health sciences, their awareness about osteoporosis was poor and unacceptable. Therefore, it was essential to promote the students' knowledge and determine the causes of insufficient physical activity and calcium intake among students.