Do Parents Know Their Children¡¯s Oral Health?

Objective: To compare the agreement between parents and children regarding the child's oral health related quality of life. Method: Children undergoing orthodontic treatment and their parents (both father and mother) completed components of the child oral health related quality of life measure (Jokovic et al., 2002). Agreement between child and parent scores derived from the questionnaires were assessed in comparison and correlation analysis. Results: Comparisons analysis identified that a group level, absolute agreement between parent and children was rare, only 3% (16) of overall scores were in agreement. Evidence of bias in parents' reports were evident; particularly, on reports of emotional well-being (P<0.001). Mean absolute differences in overall scores constituted 9% of possible range of scores (7-14% among domains). Correlation analysis identified that agreement between parent and child pairs was poor (ICC<0.3). Conclusion: There is disagreement between parent's and children's reports regarding the child's oral health related quality of life. Exact agreement is rare, and there is evidence that parents overestimate the emotional-well-being effects. Agreement between parent and child pairs was poor.