Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The lack of an effective method for teaching oral hygiene procedures
to parents of handicapped children prompted this investigation. Seventy-nine
preschool cerebral palsy children were randomly distributed according
to age and sex into three groups. The parents of these groups received
the following instruction: Group I - written instructions for a detailed
approach to oral hygiene maintenance in the home as if the child were
without handicap; Group II - written instructions for a specialized
approach to home oral hygiene maintenance with emphasis on two people
providing the care, and mouth propping for access and stability of the
arms and legs; Group III - no specific oral hygiene instructions.
Each child in each group received a thorough oral examination and
deposits of dental plaque were disclosed, numerically scored and recorded.
Each parent of the three study groups participated in a written examination
of dental knowledge at each visit. After each examination, the correct
answers were given to the parent by both a verbal and written response.
Parents and children returned at 90-day intervals.
Variables such as transportation, surgery performed during the period
of study, deteriorating health in the child, parental apathy about dental
problems, and change in family job or location, reduced the sample from
seventy-nine to fifty-four subjects, with data being obtained for pre- and
post- examination periods. Both test group of parents significantly improved
their dental knowledge scores after ninety days. However, none of
the children decreased their plaque enough to show statistical significance.
Perhaps there was some motivational improvement in the Group II parents,
as they returned for the examination at a better rate, judged to be significant
as compared to the other groups.
Further investigation is recommended either to study the technique by
itself without a time interval between scores or to evaluate the factors
of intelligence, economic level, gravity of medical situation, and sibling
support as they offset changes in behavior. Until then, it appears on the
basis of this study that it is possible to increase the parent's knowledge
of oral health but that changing the behavior of the parent actually performing
the task is much more difficult.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/4137 |
| Date | January 1974 |
| Creators | Ditto, Roland R., 1943- |
| Contributors | Roche, James R., 1924-, Katz, Simon, 1920-1987, Starkey, Paul E., Koerber, Leonard G., Barton, Paul |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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