Oral Health Literacy and Related Factors among Pregnant Women Referring to Health Government Institute in Kerman, Iran

The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 169 pregnant women referring to government institute. Data were collected by demographic profile (including age, number of children, educational level, dental attendance before pregnancy and economic status), 17-item oral health literacy questionnaire consisting of four domains (including reading comprehension, numeracy, listening, and decision-making skills), self-assessment oral health status, DMFT index and oral health behavior. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 software using ANOVA and Chi-square tests at a significance level of 0.05.

Results:

The mean age of participants was 27.92 ± 5.25 years, 38.2% of them had bachelor's degree, 35.8% had dental attendance before pregnancy and 29.1% brushed daily their teeth twice or more. Dentists were the most frequent source of oral health information. Moreover, 60.0% believed their oral health was to be moderate, and 59.4% had inadequate oral health literacy. There was also a significant correlation between educational level, monthly income and dental attendance before pregnancy.

Conclusion:

Our results showed inadequate oral health literacy among pregnant women, highlighting the necessity of dental consultation before pregnancy.

Keywords:
Oral Health; Health Literacy; Health Behavior; Pregnancy

Variables	N	%
Number of Children
0	87	53.7
1	56	33.9
2	17	10.3
3 and 4	9	5.3
Educational Level
High School	10	6.1
Diploma	50	30.3
Associate Degree	17	10.3
Bachelor	63	38.2
Higher than a Bachelor's Degree	22	13.3
Attendance to Dentist Before Decision of Pregnancy
Yes	59	35.8
No	106	64.2
Attendance to Dentist in Pregnancy
Yes	24	14.5
No	141	85.5
Oral Health Information Source
Dentist	69	41.8
Internet	45	26.6
Family	25	14.8
Radio and TV	15	8.9
More than One Source	15	8.9

Variables	N	%
Tooth Brush Behavior
Once a Week	7	4.2
2-3 Times Weekly	18	10.9
Once a Day	92	55.8
Two Times or More a Day	48	29.1
Using Tooth Paste
Always	136	82.4
Often	22	13.3
Seldom	6	3.6
Never	1	0.6
Last Time of Dental Visit
6 Month Ago	51	30.9
6-12 Month Ago	46	27.2
1-2 Years Ago	40	24.2
2-5 Years Ago	6	3.6
Don't Remember	7	4.2
Frequency of Snack
3 Times or More Daily	27	16.4
2 Times Daily	39	23.6
1 Time Daily	25	15.2
Occasionally	63	38.2
Seldom	11	6.1

Variables	Inadequate Health Literacy		Medium Health Literacy		Adequate Health Literacy		p-value
	N	%	N	%	N	%
Education
High School	7	4.3	2	1.2	1	0.6	0.006
Diploma	40	24.7	5	3.1	5	3.1
Associate Degree	11	6.8	4	2.5	2	1.2
Bachelor	28	17.3	14	8.6	21	13.0
Higher than a Bachelor's Degree	9	5.6	6	3.7	7	4.3
Income^* * One Million Tomans = 78US$.
One Million Tomans	46	30.3	4	2.6	8	5.3	0.002
1-2 Million Tomans	27	17.8	12	7.9	12	7.9
2-3 Million Tomans	11	7.2	10	6.6	10	6.6
More than 3 Million Tomans	5	3.3	3	2.0	2	1.3
Dental Visit Before Decision to Get Pregnant
No	76	46.1	12	7.3	18	10.9	0.000
Yes	22	13.3	19	11.5	18	10.9
Self-Assessment of Oral Health
Very Good	5	3.0	1	0.6	2	1.2	0.565
Good	17	10.3	5	3.0	11	6.7
Medium	56	33.9	22	13.3	21	12.7
Bad	10	6.1	3	1.8	1	0.6
Very Bad	7	4.2	0	0.0	1	0.6
I Don't Know	3	1.8	0	0.0	0	0.0
Total	98	59.4	31	18.8	36	21.8

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[1] Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: Molook Torabi, Department of Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Shafa Ave, Jomhoori Islami BLVD, Kerman 7618759689, Iran. Phone: +98 9131415238. E-mail: m.torabi.p@gmail.com.