Predictors of oral health counseling by WIC providers.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess selected predictors for the inclusion of oral health counseling by Illinois Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) providers.


METHODS
A questionnaire was developed and mailed to all 166 WIC sites to assess attitudes towards oral health counseling. Variables that revealed significant associations in bivariate analysis (P< or =.05) were considered as candidates for building a final logistic regression model in which frequency of oral health counseling was the outcome.


RESULTS
A response rate of 76% was achieved after 1 mailing, with 27% of the WIC providers having some form of oral health training. There were no statistically significant differences in the frequency of WIC providers discussing oral health with their clients by age, gender, and level of education of the provider. In the final logistic regression analysis, variables significantly associated with the frequency of WIC providers' dicussing oral health with their clients were having: (1) oral health training; and (2) nursing training.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) providers, who have had some oral health training, are more likely to provide counseling about dental disease and its prevention. This information was used to develop an educational tool for these nondental, health care providers.
Butani
Yogita
Y
Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Science, UCSF School of Dentistry, San Francisco, Calif, USA.
Kuthy
Raymond A
RA
Qian
Fang
F
Lampiris
Lewis
L
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D003376:Counseling; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology; D052756:Nutritional Sciences; D009909:Oral Health; D011632:Public Assistance; D012737:Sex Factors; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D000078329:Workforce