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Health Literacy and Parental Oral Health Knowledge, Beliefs, Behavior, and Status Among Parents of American Indian Newborns

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Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To examine the relationship between health literacy (HL) and parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, behavior, and self-reported oral health status (OHS) among parents of American Indian (AI) children.

Methods

This analysis used baseline data from a randomized controlled trial that tested an oral health intervention with parents of AI newborns. Participants were recruited in parent-child dyads (N = 579). Parents completed items assessing sociodemographic characteristics, HL, and parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, behavior, and self-reported OHS. We examined the correlation of HL with each oral health construct, controlling for parent age and income.

Results

On average, parents felt quite confident in their HL skills, performed well on questions assessing parental oral health knowledge, and endorsed beliefs likely to encourage positive parental oral health behaviors (e.g., confidence that one can successfully engage in such behaviors). Parents with more limited HL had significantly less knowledge, perceived cavities to be less severe, perceived more barriers and fewer benefits to recommended oral health behaviors, were less confident they could engage in these behaviors, and were more likely to believe their children’s oral health was under the control of the dentist or a matter of chance (P values < 0.001). Limited HL was not associated with behavior (P > 0.05) but was linked to worse self-reported OHS (P = 0.040).

Conclusions

HL was associated with parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, and self-reported OHS. Oral health education interventions targeting AI families should facilitate development of knowledge and positive oral health beliefs among parents with more limited HL skills.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01DE027077 (AGB). The secondary data analyzed in this report were originally collected as part of a randomized controlled trial funded by NIDCR (U54DE019259). The Basic Research Factors Questionnaire (BRFQ) was developed with support from NIDCR (U54DE019285, U54DE019275, and U54DE019259). The content of this report is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. We would like to express our gratitude to the participants in the research study entitled “Promoting Behavioral Change for Oral Health in American Indian Mothers and Children,” which was the source of the data used for this secondary analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 13055 East 17th Avenue, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Angela G. Brega & Judith Albino

  2. Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of California Irvine, 205B Irvine Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Luohua Jiang

  3. Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 13001 East 17th Place, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Rachel L. Johnson & Sarah J. Schmiege

  4. Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dental Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, 13123 East 16th Avenue, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Anne R. Wilson

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  1. Angela G. Brega
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  2. Luohua Jiang
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  3. Rachel L. Johnson
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  4. Anne R. Wilson
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  5. Sarah J. Schmiege
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  6. Judith Albino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Angela G. Brega.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the relevant institutional and tribal research review boards and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

As part of the original study that was the source of the data for this secondary analysis, informed consent was obtained from all adult participants included in the study.

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Brega, A.G., Jiang, L., Johnson, R.L. et al. Health Literacy and Parental Oral Health Knowledge, Beliefs, Behavior, and Status Among Parents of American Indian Newborns. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 7, 598–608 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00688-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-019-00688-4

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