Oral Health Education for Caregivers of Children With Disabilities
Condition: Developmental Disability
MeSH terms: Developmental Disabilities
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Considering the impact of caregivers' oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices on the
      oral health of their children; we introduced an educational program to the parents and
      caregivers of children with developmental disabilities about the oral healthcare of their
      developmentally disabled children to rise up with the oral health status of those children.
    

Detailed description: 
      -  Target Population; Parents of Children with DD enrolled in selected special education
           centers in Khartoum state, Khartoum, Sudan, and their developmentally disabled children.

        -  A convenient sample of two special education centers were selected randomly from a list
           of all the 105 special education centers registered at the State Ministry of Education,
           and allocated into intervention and control groups.

        -  One center was used as case who received the educational program and the other center
           was used as a control group.

        -  Eligibility Criteria: child aged 3-18, with a developmental disability, caregivers
           approval to participate (signed the informed consent).

        -  All the Children who met the eligibility criteria in both centers were examined and all
           their parents were interviewed, before and after the intervention.

        -  An interview questionnaire for the parents of Children with DD in both centers was used
           to evaluate their knowledge and attitude toward the oral health care of their children
           before and 3 months after the intervention.

        -  Oral examination was carried out to determine the baseline oral hygiene level and
           treatment needs of the Children with DD, before the educational session.

        -  A second examination was carried out after a period of 3 months after the educational
           session, to determine any change in oral hygiene and treatment needs of the children
           after their parents and or caregivers' attendance to the educational session.

        -  The baseline and follow up examination were carried out blindly by a calibrated dentist.

        -  The same examiner carried out the baseline and follow up examinations to avoid any
           inter-examiner variations.

        -  Oral examination was arranged according to oral health surveys basic methods recommended
           by WHO in 2013.

        -  The Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (measuring debris index and calculus index).

        -  Dentition Status and Treatment Needs chart provided in oral health assessment forms for
           children by the WHO 2013 was used to determine the amount of unmet dental needs and help
           in evaluating the caregivers' oral healthcare behaviours and the frequency of dental
           visits.
    

Intervention name(s): Oral Health Educational Program for Caregivers of Children with developmental disabilities
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Oral Health Education Program for Caregivers of Children with developmental disabilities included information about health issues and obstacles encountered in children with DD & methods of prevention and management. It also emphasized on proper oral hygiene measures for this group. (University of Washington 2010)
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: disability; developmental disability; special healthcare needs