Examining the relationship between childhood health conditions and health service utilisation at school entry and subsequent academic performance in a large cohort of Australian children

Abstract

Some health conditions put children at risk of poorer academic performance, and interventions to prevent this such as appropriate support services in schools should be considered.

Does oral health influence school performance and school attendance? A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Data from 30 995 children from five studies were used to obtain the pooled effect size between parent's perception of child's oral health and school performance. Poor school performance was significantly associated with poor paternal perception of children's oral health (OR: 1.36 95% CI: 1.16‐1.57) . No heterogeneity was observed in both analyses (dental caries: Q : 0.94, P = 0.918; parent's perception of child's oral health: Q : 8.88, P = 0.064).…”

“…Expectedly, all papers included in this review were observational study designs. Of them, only a single study was longitudinal . Therefore, the strength of evidence is limited due to biases and confounding effect regularly seen in observational research.…”

“…Of them, only a single study was longitudinal. 18 Therefore, the strength of evidence is limited due to biases and confounding effect regularly seen in observational research. For example, children's oral health, school performance, and school attendance may be influenced by common factors such as family structure, family composition, and socioeconomic status.…”

“…Poor school performance was significantly associated with poor paternal perception of children's oral health (OR: 1.36 95% CI: 1.16-1.57). 8,18,19,21,22 No heterogeneity was observed in both analyses (dental caries: Q: 0.94, P = 0.918; parent's perception of child's oral health: Q: 8.88, P = 0.064). Meta-analysis of the estimates of the association of gingivitis (Q: 4.14, P = 0.042, I 2 : 75.9%) 8,19 and toothache (Q: 24.42, P < 0.001, I 2 : 91.8%) 7,20,26 with school performance revealed high heterogeneity.…”

Predictors of learning outcomes for children with and without chronic illness: An Australian longitudinal study

“…Research has shown that children with a chronic illness are at greater risk than their healthy peers, of worse learning and developmental outcomes both in the short and longer term (Martinez & Ercikan, ; Maslow, Haydon, McRee, & Halpern, ; Nasuuna, Santoro, Kremer, & Silva, ; Wiesner, Vondracek, Capaldi, & Porfeli, ). In a recent systematic meta‐review, Lum and colleagues critiqued the available evidence examining the link between six chronic illnesses and children's and adolescents' school experiences and outcomes.…”