title: Long-Term Effects of School-Based Oral Health Program on Oral Health Knowledge and Practices and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of exposure to the School Oral Health Program (SOHP) during primary school years on the current oral health (OH) knowledge and practices and OH-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of Kuwait University students.
  
  
  METHODS
  300 university students, aged 17.6-24.3 years, completed a validated questionnaire that consisted of 5 sections about demographics, health self-evaluation, OH knowledge and practices and OHRQoL. Of these students, 260 were female, 40 male, 262 single and 38 married. 189 participants had attended the SOHP, while 111 had not. Frequencies and means were used for data description. The Student t test was used to compare the means, while χ(2) analysis was used for the associations between SOHP and non-SOHP attendance. The odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for significant factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SOHP attendees were twice as aware of the relationship between gum problems and heart diseases than the non-SOHP (OR = 2, 95% CI = 1.15-3.48, p = 0.013). The daily activities of the non-SOHP attendees were twice as likely to be affected by dental health issues compared to those of the SOHP attendees (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.41-3.68, p < 0.001). In addition, the SOHP attendees were 3 times as likely to describe their OH status as good/very good/excellent than the non-SOHP attendees (OR = 2.85, 95% CI = 1.31-6.18, p = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SOHP attendees had a better OHRQoL and overall self-satisfaction with their OH than the non-SOHP attendees with insignificant differences between the 2 groups in OH knowledge and practices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta., Canada.
authors.forename: Aishah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alsumait
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: ElSalhy
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000193:education*; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D011788:Quality of Life; D012572:School Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult