Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene (한국치위생학회지)

Korean Society of Dental Hygiene (한국치위생학회)
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Evaluation of oral hygiene status in children of North Korea refugees families

북한이탈가정 어린이의 구강위생상태 평가

  • So-Yeong Kim (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University) ;
  • Seong-Woo Choi (Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Chosun University)
  • 김소영 (조선대학교 의과대학 예방의학교실) ;
  • 최성우 (조선대학교 의과대학 예방의학교실)
  • Received : 2023.02.06
  • Accepted : 2023.03.20
  • Published : 2023.04.30
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Abstract

Objectives: This study was conducted to identify the oral hygiene status of children and adolescents from North Korean (NK) refugee families residing in South Korea (SK) and to find ways to improve it. Methods: This study examined 88 children in NK refugee families. Their oral hygiene ability were estimated using the Patient Hygiene Performance (PHP)-index for children. The Independent Samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted on the oral hygiene status according to the characteristics of children of NK refugees, and covariance analysis was conducted by controlling for significant variables in the simple analysis. Statistical significance levels were set at than p<0.05. Results: The overall PHP-index of normal, poor, and severe poor were 14.8%, 5.7%, and 79.5%, respectively. Adjusted for sex, age, country of birth, duration of settlement, covariance analysis was performed to determine the PHP-index according to oral examination. PHP-index was 3.55±1.56 when the oral examination was conducted and 4.26±0.98 when the oral examination was not conducted; this difference was significantly (p=0.022). Conclusions: Children and from NK refugee families have severely poor oral hygiene. Therefore, education to improve the oral hygiene status is necessary.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1I1A1A01054921).

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