Hand and Oral Hygiene Practices among Adolescents in Dominican Republic, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago: Prevalence, Health, Risk Behavior, Mental Health and Protective Factors

Supa Pengpid and Karl Peltzer
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Supa Pengpid: ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Mahidol University, Salaya 73170, Thailand
Karl Peltzer: Department of Psychology, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-8

Abstract: Objective: The study aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of oral hygiene (OH) and hand hygiene (HH) behavior among school adolescents in three Caribbean countries. Method: In all, 7476 school adolescents (median age 14 years) from the Dominican Republic, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago responded to the cross-sectional Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) in 2016–2017. Results: The prevalence of poor OH (tooth brushing < 2 times/day) was 16.9%, poor HH (not always before meals) was 68.2%, poor HH (not always after toilet) was 28.4%, and poor HH (not always with soap) was 52.7%. In the adjusted logistic regression analysis, current cannabis use, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, poor mental health, and low parental support increased the odds for poor OH. Rarely or sometimes experiencing hunger, trouble from alcohol use, inadequate fruit and vegetable intake, poor mental health, and low parental support were associated with poor HH (before meals and/or after the toilet, and/or with soap). Conclusion: The survey showed poor OH and HH behavior practices. Several sociodemographic factors, health risk behaviors, poor mental health, and low parental support were associated with poor OH and/or HH behavior that can assist with tailoring OH and HH health promotion.

Keywords: oral hygiene; hand hygiene; school adolescents; correlates; Caribbean (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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