Scheduled for Research Coordinating Board Poster Session II, Friday, April 28, 2006, 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall Poster Area II


Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of College Students

Donald I. Wagner, Keith King and Yunus D. Langha, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH

The purpose of this study was to determine the oral heath knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of college students at a Midwestern Public University. In addition gender and socioeconomic background of the participants were examined as potential intervening variables in the participant's respective oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. Further, this research explored the use of dental floss and the prevalence of smoking and use of spit tobacco by college age students. This study surveyed 377 students between the ages of 18 to 24 from a Midwestern University. Results showed that the college students at this Midwestern University were very knowledgeable about their oral health, they also had positive oral health attitudes; but their oral health behavior scores were not equally good. It was found that 18.1% of college students smoked cigarette at least once a week while 6.6% of the college students smoked everyday. The results of this study also showed that 2.7% of the college students used smokeless tobacco at least once a week. Results of this study indicated that there was no effect of gender on the college students' oral health knowledge, attitudes or behaviors. It was also found that college students' higher knowledge about oral health or having a more positive attitude towards oral health did not have a significant effect on their use of dental floss. However when comparing the oral health knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of college students according to their socioeconomic condition, it was found that the students coming from a higher socioeconomic background had a higher oral health knowledge and had more positive oral health attitudes; but still there was no significant difference in their oral health behaviors as compared to students from low socioeconomic background. The results of this study may help dental professionals and health educators to understand the dental behaviors of college students and help them plan appropriate health education interventions.

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