Health habits, attitudes and behavior towards oral health of children with epilepsy

Abstract

Introduction: Children suffering from epilepsy are high at risk of oral diseases primarily due to their underlying medical condition which can have an impact on the maintenance level of oral hygiene, but also due to adverse effects of antiepileptic drugs. Objective. The aim of this paper was to identify habits, attitudes and behavior of children with epilepsy and parents in respect to oral health. Method. The experimental group consisted of 50 children with epilepsy, 24 boys and 26 girls, 7-14 years old, mean age 11.2±2.2 years. The control group consisted of healthy children, matched by age and gender. The instruments of investigation consisted of the structured interview of children and parents concerning oral health habits, attitudes and behavior. We used medical records of children with epilepsy as a source of information on their diagnosis, duration of the illness and current therapy. Statistical analysis was performed by chi-squared test, nonparametric correlation, Wilcoxon’s signed rank test and logistic regression. Results. Results showed that more children with epilepsy and their parents had inappropriate habits and attitudes towards oral health, as well as nutrition habits (p lt 0.001). Compared to healthy controls, children with epilepsy washed their teeth less often and shorter, they had less knowledge about causes of oral diseases and about influence of oral diseases on general health, and they had worse self-rating of teeth and gum condition. In addition, significantly more children with epilepsy used an incorrect technique of teeth brushing (p lt 0.001). Characteristics of children’s epilepsy and educational degree of parents had no influence on these differences. Conclusion. Study results showed that children with epilepsy and their parents had worse habits, attitudes and behavior towards oral health than healthy controls and their parents. This difference can be explained primarily by worse parental estimation of oral health and behavior towards oral health in comparison to parents of healthy controls.

Uvod: Kod dece obolele od epilepsije postoji visok rizik za nastanak oboljenja usne duplje zbog psiholoških posledica osnovne bolesti i neželjenih dejstava antiepileptika. Cilj rada. Cilj rada je bio da se prepoznaju navike, stavovi i ponašanje dece s epilepsijom i njihovih roditelja u odnosu na zdravlje usta i zuba. Metod rada. Eksperimentalnu grupu je činilo 50 dece obolele od epilepsije (24 dečaka i 26 devojčica) uzrasta 7-14 godina (prosečan uzrast 11,2±2,2 godine), dok je kontrolnu grupu činilo 50 zdrave dece istog uzrasta i pola. Podaci za istraživanje su dobijeni primenom posebno konstruisanog upitnika o navikama, stavovima i ponašanju obolele i zdrave dece i njihovih roditelja po tipu standardizovanog intervjua. Kao izvor podataka o deci oboleloj od epilepsije, dijagnozi, trajanju bolesti i lečenju korišćena je medicinska dokumentacija (istorije bolesti). Podaci su obrađeni sledećim statističkim testovima: χ2-test, neparametrijska korelacija, Vilkoksonov (Wilcoxon) test sume rangova i logistička regresija. Rezultati. Rezultati istraživanja su pokazali da deca obolela od epilepsije imaju lošije navike i stavove kada je u pitanju oralno zdravlje (ređe i kraće peru zube, manje znaju o nastanku oboljenja usta i zuba i o uticaju tih oboljenja na opšte zdravlje, imaju lošiju samoprocenu stanja zuba i desni) i lošije ponašanje u vezi s ishranom od svojih zdravih vršnjaka (p lt 0,001). Broj dece s epilepsijom koja nepravilno peru zube značajno je veći od broja zdrave dece (p lt 0,001). Dobijeni rezultati ne zavise od obeležja osnovne bolesti. Zaključak. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da su navike, stavovi i ponašanje dece s epilepsijom i njihovih roditelja kada je reč o oralnom zdravlju lošiji nego kod zdrave dece i njihovih roditelja. Ovo se prvenstveno može objasniti time što roditelji dece s epilepsijom imaju lošije procene i ponašanje u odnosu na zdravlje usta i zuba nego roditelji zdrave dece.