Objectives: To determine access to dental care among preschool children of Arabic-speaking immigrant families; to investigate the influence of social and cultural factors on access to dental care; and to measure preschool children’s oral health as reported by their parents. Methods: This survey used a semi-structured questionnaire to interview 100 Arabic-speaking parents of children under the age of 5 who were identified from community centres. Five scales were used to measure acculturation, social capital, oral health literacy, oral health knowledge, and health literacy. Results: Only 34% of families had visited the dentist to obtain dental care for their preschool children. Nineteen-percent of Arabic parents in our sample rated their children’s oral health as being fair or poor. None of the scales used in this study had a significant impact on access to dental care; however, higher scores on these scales tended to be associated with better access to dental care.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OTU.1807/30157 |
Date | 01 December 2011 |
Creators | Al-Rudainy, Oras |
Contributors | Lawrence, Herenia P. |
Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
Language | en_ca |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Thesis |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds