ประสิทธิผลของการประยุกต์ทฤษฏีแรงจูงใจเพื่อป้องกันโรค โดยผู้ดูแลเด็ก ในการป้องกันฟันผุให้แก่เด็กวัย 9-18 เดือน / วชิรี คิมหสวัสดิ์ = Effectiveness of application of protection motivation theory for children caregivers to prevent dental caries for their 9-18 month old children / Wachiree Kimhasawad
Tooth brushing can reduce caries rate. However, for infants (9-18 months), it is not widely practiced, requiring skill and motivation of children caregivers. To create awareness and cooperation from children caregivers, protection-motivation theory (PMT), emphasizing cognitive processes mediating behavioral change, was used to achieve this goal. Aim: Understanding and motivation of children caregivers is key to success in decreasing caries incremental rate in children. This study was designed to compare the caries incremental rate of PMT group with control group Design: Group of 81 children (age 9-14.5 months) from Nakhonratchasima province and their caregivers were randomly allocated to PMT and control groups. Those in PMT group received PMT oral-health education program, and two four monthly empowering sessions. The control group received demonstrations of tooth brushing technique. Baseline and 1 year caries examination was taken for both groups. Results: PMT group showed a lower caries incremental rate than control, which related to tooth brushing frequency. In terms of motivation and awareness measurement, the best predictors of tooth brushing behavior were perceived self-efficacy and perceived severity. Conclusions: PMT can encourage the cognitive process and motivate oral-health care behaviors of children caregivers leading to their children’s decreasing caries incremental rate.
