The relationship between Sense of Coherence and toothbrushing behaviours in Iranian adolescents in Mashhad.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess the association between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and toothbrushing behaviours in Iranian adolescents in Mashhad.


METHODS
A representative stratified random sample of 1054 grade 6 Iranian students, living in Mashhad, answered a 37-item questionnaire with questions on socio-demographic characteristics, frequency of toothbrushing behaviours and Antonovsky's 13-item SOC scale. Binary logistic regression was used to test the association between SOC and toothbrushing behaviours.


RESULTS
Higher SOC scores were significantly associated with more frequent toothbrushing behaviours (p=0.01). This positive association remained significant after adjusting for sex and father's education level (p=0.01). When testing this association for the boys and girls separately, the association was significant only for girls (p=0.02). However, the interaction between sex and SOC was not significant (p=0.56). The association between toothbrushing and sex remained significant after adjusting for SOC (p<0.001). Boys had a significantly stronger SOC than girls (p=0.04).


CONCLUSIONS
SOC was associated with toothbrushing frequency in Iranian adolescents in Mashhad. SOC did not fully explain the sex difference in toothbrushing behaviours.
Dorri
Mojtaba
M
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK. mojtabadorri@yahoo.com
Sheiham
Aubrey
A
Hardy
Rebecca
R
Watt
Richard
R
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005220:Fathers / Q000193:education; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data