IADR Abstract Archives
Assessment of Parental Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Undesirable Oral Habits and its Prevalence amongst children under 5 years attending the Well-Baby Clinic in Qatar, before and after Covid-19 Pandemic.
Objectives: Oral habits usually develop at an early age in life. If these repetitive habits are not addressed, it becomes increasingly difficult to eliminate. Malocclusion and bone malformations may also result from the duration and frequency of undesirable oral habits (UOH’s). It’s therefore crucial for parents to identify and take measures to cease habits at its infancy. Prevalence of oral habits varies across different societies and cultures. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of UOH’s amongst children under the age of 5 years in the State of Qatar, and evaluate parental knowledge, attitudes and practices towards theses habits.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design utilizing a convenient sampling was applied. A structured pre-tested, validated questionnaire was administered to the parents of apparently healthy children attending 27 well-baby clinics for their routine vaccinations aged 5-years-old and below. The target sample size was calculated based-on a 95% confidence interval and 5% marginal error to be 383.
Results: A total of 379 responses were obtained (72%). Most children were female (46.9%) with majority (89.4%) being non-Qatari. Parents reported 43.2% were currently sucking their thumbs. Most parents (64%) knew UOH had adverse effects, with 72% agreeing it could lead to deep rooted habits if not stopped early. 42.5% thought UOHeffects primary teeth, with majority (72.5%) agreeing if prolonged, leads to malocclusion. Reason behind UOH varied, with some (17.6%) reporting fear, and (17.9%) stress. Parents (85%) showed intention to stop UOH. Most (63.7%) reported COVID-19 lockdown had no effect on frequency of UOH’s while 12.5% felt it increased.
Conclusions: The study revealed thumb sucking and nail biting was the most frequently practiced UOH in the study population. Results also warrant the need for educating parents regarding the deleterious effects produce by UOH on the development of normal occlusion and the importance of timely intervention.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design utilizing a convenient sampling was applied. A structured pre-tested, validated questionnaire was administered to the parents of apparently healthy children attending 27 well-baby clinics for their routine vaccinations aged 5-years-old and below. The target sample size was calculated based-on a 95% confidence interval and 5% marginal error to be 383.
Results: A total of 379 responses were obtained (72%). Most children were female (46.9%) with majority (89.4%) being non-Qatari. Parents reported 43.2% were currently sucking their thumbs. Most parents (64%) knew UOH had adverse effects, with 72% agreeing it could lead to deep rooted habits if not stopped early. 42.5% thought UOHeffects primary teeth, with majority (72.5%) agreeing if prolonged, leads to malocclusion. Reason behind UOH varied, with some (17.6%) reporting fear, and (17.9%) stress. Parents (85%) showed intention to stop UOH. Most (63.7%) reported COVID-19 lockdown had no effect on frequency of UOH’s while 12.5% felt it increased.
Conclusions: The study revealed thumb sucking and nail biting was the most frequently practiced UOH in the study population. Results also warrant the need for educating parents regarding the deleterious effects produce by UOH on the development of normal occlusion and the importance of timely intervention.