A comparative study of oral health attitudes and behavior using the Hiroshima University - Dental Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI) between dental and civil engineering students in Colombia

Abstract

The aim of this study was to use the Hiroshima University - Dental Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI) to compare oral health attitudes and behavior of dental and civil engineering students in Colombia. The HU-DBI's survey consisting of twenty dichotomous responses (agree-disagree) regarding tooth brushing, was completed at University Antonio Narino for the dental students and the University of Cauca for the civil engineering students. The Spanish version of the HU-DBI questionnaire was taken by 182 of 247 dental students and 411 of 762 engineering students. The data was-statistically analyzed by the chi-square test and backward logistic regression. Compared to the engineering students, the dental students were more likely to agree with questions such as “I am bothered by the color of my gums”(OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.3-3.7),“I think I can clean my teeth well without using toothpaste” (OR = 3.0, 95% CI: 1.5-5.9), “I have used a dye to see how clean my teeth are” (OR = 2.9, 95% CI: 1.9-4.3), and “I have had my dentist tell me that I brush very well” (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3-3.1). The dental education curriculum in a dental school compared to a civil engineering school in Colombia indicated that a three-phase curriculum in didactics and clinics increased oral health attitudes and behavior from entry to graduation.

Development of an Arabic Version of the Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioral Inventory: Cross-cultural Adaptation, Reliability, and Validity

“…The longer the time interval, the less the recall bias but also the greater the chance that the second questionnaire is not answered (attrition of the sample and losing participants). In our study, and according to patients' convenience, time interval was at least 1 hour and up to 10 hours (same day), as recommended by several authors [17,20]. Although using a longer time interval may have reduced recall bias, it carries the risk that some habits may change if the person is affected by the information, especially in such a questionnaire regarding dental health.…”

“…In addition to our reporting of the recommended kappa values and confidence intervals, several other factors attest to the strength of the translation and adaptation process used in this study. Compared with previous reports of testing bilingual reliability on samples of 16-37 volunteers [5,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20], our data are based on 58 bilingual patients fluent in both Arabic and English. In an article discussing the sample size required for pilot studies, the recommended sample size for test-retest pilot studies is 35-40 [21].…”

Comparison of the HU-DBI index between areas of health sciences and other areas of the University of Cuenca, 2016

“…This study is the first that takes into consideration all the areas of knowledge of the University of Cuenca and compares attitudes and behaviors among the different areas, which is only reported by Jaramillo and colleagues, but does not report an index as such, rather differences in the responses. 15 Therefore, our study provides a parameter of comparison among different areas of the study. The conclusions of different investigations suggest the existence of two large groups of individuals, one of western culture and the other of oriental culture, with the first having more positive characteristics regarding attitude and conduct of self-care in oral health.…”

“…It analyzes the HU-DBI index among students of odontology and engineering, where differences are found both in attitudes as well as behaviors. 8 The University of Cuenca study makes comparisons among different areas of knowledge. The object of this study was to determine the level of attitudes and behaviors about oral health of students of the different areas of knowledge of the University of Cuenca during the period March-July of 2016.…”

Students' Behavior Related to Oral Health

“…Expectedly, dental students showed knowledge of the proper choice of toothbrush -68.5% use a soft or ultra-soft brush, which is today considered to be optimal for maintaining oral hygiene, while most students of political science (71.2%) use medium brush. The survey conducted in Hiroshima, which compared oral-health behavior between dental and civil engineering students, also showed that future dentists have more knowledge about the proper choice of toothbrush [17]. Data showing the use of additional funds for oral hygiene are not satisfactory; only 24.8% of students use of dental floss and interdental brushes every day.…”