ORAL HEALTH LITERACY AMONG CLIENTS VISITING A RURAL DENTAL COLLEGE IN NORTH INDIA-A CROSS- SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Limited health literacy among adults is one of the many barriers to better oral healthoutcomes. It is not uncommon to find people who consider understanding oral health information achallenge. Therefore, the present study assessed oral health literacy among clients visiting Gian SagarDental College and Hospital, Rajpura.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 450participants who visitedthe Out Patient Department (OPD) of Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital for a period of twomonths (Nov-Dec, 2013). A questionnaire was given to each of the participants. Oral health literacy wasgraded on a 12-point Likert scale based on the total score. Oral Health Literacy of the participants wasassessed as low, medium and high on the basis of responses. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS-15statistical package. ANOVA and Student t-test were used to do comparisons between groups.RESULTS: Low oral health literacy scores were reported in 60.2% (271) participants. More than 60% ofthe study participants had knowledge about dental terms such as ‘dental caries,’ and ‘oral cancer.’ Only22% of the graduates had a high literacy score. Mean oral health literacy score according to educationalqualification was statistically significant (p<0.05), whereas there was no significant difference in termsof age and gender (p>0.05).CONCLUSION: The majority of the participants had low literacy scores. There is a need to address theseproblems especially among rural population by health care providers and the government.