Illustrated information for parent education: parent and patient responses.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of using illustrations, when educating parents about their child's upcoming operative appointment, on parents' and child patients' responses to the treatment.


METHODS
Data were collected from 189 parents of 4- to 10-year-old pediatric dental patients who needed operative treatment. The parents received information about their child's upcoming operative visit either verbally or with the support of standardized illustrations (flip chart), and/or individualized drawings. Parents and providers responded to surveys following the operative appointments.


RESULTS
Verbally informed parents were more likely to (a) miss the operative appointment (47% vs 19%/16%/10%; P<.001) and (b) remain in the operatory during treatment (47% vs 18%/26%/19%; P<.01) than parents who received standardized illustrations, individualized illustrations, or both illustrations. The patients whose parents had received verbal information behaved more negatively than the children whose parents had received illustrative information. Overall, Frankl behavior ratings ranged from 1="definitely negative" to 4="definitely positive" (3.30 vs 3.54; P=.04).


CONCLUSIONS
Educating parents about the basic disease process of dental caries with the aid of illustrations increased parents' cooperation with the recommended dental treatment for their children and improved their children's behavior during the treatment.
Wang
Susan J
SJ
Friends of Family Health Center, Institute of Healthcare Advancement, La Habra, CA, USA.
Briskie
Daniel
D
Hu
Jan Ching Chun
JC
Majewski
Robert
R
Inglehart
Marita Rohr
MR
D000328:Adult; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001296:Audiovisual Aids; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000523:psychology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011368:Professional-Family Relations