FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ORAL HEALTH BEHAVIORS AMONG PATIENTS ATTENDING THE DENTAL CLINIC AT SIRINDHORN COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, PHITSANULOK PROVINCE

Abstract

This correlational study aimed to examine the levels of personal factors, predisposing factors, enabling factors, reinforcing factors, and their relationships with oral health behaviors among clients attending the dental clinic of Sirindhorn College of Public Health, Phitsanulok. The sample comprised 305 participants. Data were collected using a questionnaire with an index of item-objective congruence (IOC) of 0.94, KR-20 reliability of 0.92, and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.95, 0.81, 0.89, 0.94, and 0.87 for each respective component. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, while Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and the eta correlation coefficient were employed to determine relationships between variables at a significance level of 0.05. The findings revealed that most participants were female, with a mean age of 37.94 years. The majority held a bachelor’s degree and had a monthly income of less than 10,000 THB.
Oral-health knowledge, oral-health attitudes, and access to dental services were at high levels, perceived oral-health problems were at a moderate level, social support was at a very high level, and overall oral health behaviors were rated as good. Correlation analysis showed that sex, age, monthly income, oral-health knowledge, perceived oral-health problems, access to dental services, and social support were significantly associated with oral health behaviors.
In contrast, education level and oral-health attitudes showed no significant association. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the results be applied to develop oral-health promotion programs aimed at enhancing awareness and strengthening factors that are significantly related to oral health behaviors. Future quasi-experimental studies should compare the effectiveness of tailored oral-health behavior promotion programs with conventional oral-health education to further improve oral-health outcomes among service recipients.