title: Bilingual flipcharts help improve oral health-related knowledge and self-efficacy of Korean-American caregivers of preschoolers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We have limited knowledge on ways to improve oral health-related behaviors for caregivers of minority preschoolers. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of a bilingual educational flipchart.
  
  
  METHODS
  We piloted a bilingual flipchart with Korean-American caregivers of preschoolers (n=219) and administered pre-/post-intervention surveys. The paired t-test evaluated changes in knowledge and self-efficacy (for all caregivers and stratified by acculturation).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant improvements in knowledge on the bacterial etiology of tooth decay (P=0.02), mother-to-child transmission of tooth decay (P=0.03), fluoride toothpaste safety (P<0.0001), and dental visit frequency (P<0.0001). Caregivers' self-efficacy to keep their child's teeth healthy also improved (P<0.0001). There were differences in knowledge measures based on caregivers' acculturation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bilingual educational materials help improve the oral health-related knowledge and self-efficacy of Korean-American caregivers of preschoolers. Larger confirmatory studies are needed and future work should evaluate clinical outcomes associated with improved knowledge and self-efficacy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Donald L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Jeffrey Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001213:Asian; D017028:Caregivers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D009909:Oral Health; D010865:Pilot Projects; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D020377:Self Efficacy
keywords: Korean-American caregiver; acculturation; early childhood caries; health belief model; infant; oral health; self-efficacy