Imran S S, Ramzan M, Nadeem S.
Knowledge and practice of oral health among higher secondary school students.
Biomedica Jan ;31(2):137-40.

Background and Objectives: Oral health is an integral part of general health and well being of an individual and quality of life. The prevalence of dental diseases is on the increase probably due to change in life style and his / her lack of dental education. The objectives of the study were to determine knowledge and practice of oral health among higher secondary school students and to evaluate if there is any gender difference in these two parameters. Methodology: A cross sectional study was done on 370 higher secondary students of Wah Cantt. The students were selected by using purposive sampling technique from two higher secondary schools of Wah Cantt and the study was completed in 6 months, (September 13 – February 14), duration. A pretested structured questionnaire was used for collection of data and the questionnaires were filled by the students themselves. Knowledge and practice of oral health was assessed by scoring 12 questions of knowledge and 17 questions of practice. Each question was scored as one point. Frequencies and percentages of categorical variables were calculated using SPSS version 19 and Microsoft excel. Chi-square test was applied to compare the knowledge and practice of oral health among male and female students and p-value less than 0.05 would be considered significant. Results: Out of total students 18 (5%) had good, 170 (46%) had average and 182 (49%) had poor knowledge about oral health. Furthermore 34 (9%) had good, 149 (40%) had average and 187 (51%) had poor practice of oral health. Chi-square test showed insignificant difference between knowledge (p = 0.518) and practice (p = 0.607) of oral health among male and female students. Conclusions: The knowledge and oral health practice of higher secondary school students seems to be unsatisfactory and calls for an immediate expansion of health education programs to include dental health education also.

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