IADR Abstract Archives
Knowledge, attitude, behavior and oral health problems of overseas students
Objectives: To determine the association of knowledge and attitude toward oral healthcare behavior of overseas university students staying in Thailand between January 2020 to July 2022 and explore the experiences of their oral health problems.
Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted using an online survey in English operated through the Google platform by convenience sampling among overseas Chulalongkorn University students. The sample size was calculated using Yamane formula with minimum sample size of 297 after additional 10% compensate. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlations were employed using IBM SPSS version 29.
Results: Of 311 overseas students, 55.6% were male. The average age of students was 27.5±4.5 years. 68.81% of students were from ASEAN countries, and 73.31% studied in non-health science programs. The study fields, health, and non-health sciences were associated with knowledge (p<0.001) and attitude (p=0.004). Type of health insurance had an association with behavior (p=0.014) and the student’s perspective about dental visits (p=0.014). There is positive correlation between knowledge-behavior (p<0.001, r=0.198) and attitude-behavior (p<0.001, r=0.212). Three hundred fifty-nine cases of oral health problems were experienced by 47.3% of overseas students consisted of tooth hypersensitivity (21.2%), gingivitis (15.3%), caries (14%), cracked or broken tooth (10%), severe toothache (9%) and others. There was an association between oral healthcare behavior and oral health problems (p<0.001), and a negative correlation was found between behavior score and the number of oral health problems (p<0.001, r=-0.204).
Conclusions: The oral healthcare behaviors of overseas students correlated positively with knowledge and attitude. A negative correlation was observed between behavior and the number of oral health problems. Furthermore, studying in health science programs impacts students' knowledge and attitude toward oral health, while dental treatment coverage of insurance affects decisions for dental visits.
Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted using an online survey in English operated through the Google platform by convenience sampling among overseas Chulalongkorn University students. The sample size was calculated using Yamane formula with minimum sample size of 297 after additional 10% compensate. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlations were employed using IBM SPSS version 29.
Results: Of 311 overseas students, 55.6% were male. The average age of students was 27.5±4.5 years. 68.81% of students were from ASEAN countries, and 73.31% studied in non-health science programs. The study fields, health, and non-health sciences were associated with knowledge (p<0.001) and attitude (p=0.004). Type of health insurance had an association with behavior (p=0.014) and the student’s perspective about dental visits (p=0.014). There is positive correlation between knowledge-behavior (p<0.001, r=0.198) and attitude-behavior (p<0.001, r=0.212). Three hundred fifty-nine cases of oral health problems were experienced by 47.3% of overseas students consisted of tooth hypersensitivity (21.2%), gingivitis (15.3%), caries (14%), cracked or broken tooth (10%), severe toothache (9%) and others. There was an association between oral healthcare behavior and oral health problems (p<0.001), and a negative correlation was found between behavior score and the number of oral health problems (p<0.001, r=-0.204).
Conclusions: The oral healthcare behaviors of overseas students correlated positively with knowledge and attitude. A negative correlation was observed between behavior and the number of oral health problems. Furthermore, studying in health science programs impacts students' knowledge and attitude toward oral health, while dental treatment coverage of insurance affects decisions for dental visits.