J Korean Acad Oral Health.  2016 Jun;40(2):71-78. 10.11149/jkaoh.2016.40.2.71.

Oral health literacy of mothers belonging to multi-cultural families in Gangneung City: a case study

• Namkoong E
• Park DY
• Jung SH
• Ma DS

• KMID: 2328810
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.11149/jkaoh.2016.40.2.71

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to identify the oral health literacy level of mothers in multi-cultural families and promote their oral health.
METHODS
Participants were 46 mothers belonging to multi-cultural families who participated in the Oral health promotion program for multi-cultural families in Gangneung. For measurement of oral health literacy, 30 subjects were analyzed. Six pre-trained investigators conducted an interview with the mothers. Thirty-six mothers belonging to general families in Gangneung were included, and 30 subjects were analyzed. The Oral Health Literacy Instrument for Korean Children's Caregiver was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
RESULTS
The mean oral health literacy score for mothers from multi-cultural families was 10.83 out of 22.0, which was lower than the score for mothers from general families (P<0.05). The percentage of mothers from multi-cultural families whose oral health literacy was inadequate was 63.3%. Oral health literacy scores were significantly different by Korean fluency level (P<0.05). The correlation between Korean communication level and reading comprehension score was significant (P<0.01). The correlation between Korean communication level and total oral health literacy score was also significant (P<0.05). Finally, there was a significant correlation between oral health knowledge and reading comprehension (P<0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
The oral health literacy score for mothers from multi-cultural families was lower than that for mother belonging to general families, and 63.3% had inadequate knowledge. Oral health professionals should use easy terms and consider the Korean communication capacity of mothers in their professional service.

Keyword

Mother; Multi-cultural family; Oral health literacy

MeSH Terms

Caregivers
Comprehension
Gangwon-do*
Humans
Literacy*
Mothers*
Oral Health*
Research Personnel

Reference

References

1. MOPAS. 2012 Status of foreign residents of local autonomous entity. Seoul: MOPAS;2012. p. 1–679.

2. Lee NK. A comparative analysis of oral health behavior between multicultural and ordinary Korean families; mothers and children. J Korean Acad Oral Health. 2011; 35(4):450–456.

3. Yang SJ. Health Status, Health Care Utilization and Related Factors among Asian Immigrant Women in Korea. J Korean Public Health Nurs. 2010; 24(2):323–335.

4. Metz AS, Richards LG. Children’s preventive dental visits: influencing factors. J Am Coll Dent. 1967; 34(4):204–212.

5. Ryu Kyung. Effect of mothers’ oral health behaviour and knowledge on dental caries in their preschool children. J Korean Acad Oral Health. 2004; 28(1):105–115.

6. Kim EJ. Preschool Children’s Oral Health Behavior according to their Mothers’ Oral Health Knowledge and Behavior Characteristics [master’s thesis]. Daegu: Kyungpook National University;2013. [Ko-rean].

7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention[Internet]. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [cited 2013 Nov 01] Available from:. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2010.htm.

8. Davis TC, Wolf MS, Bass PF, Middlebrooks M, Kennen E, Baker DW, et al. Low literacy impairs comprehension of prescription drug warning labels. J General Internal Medicine. 2006; 21(8):847–851.

9. U.S. National Library of Medicine[Internet]. Health Services Research Information Central. [cited 2013 Nov 01]. Available from. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrinfo/health_literacy.html.

10. Baker DW, Wolf MS, Feinglass J, Thompson JA, Gazmaraian JA, Huang J. Health literacy and mortality among elderly persons. Arch Intern Med. 2007; 167(14):1503–1509.

11. Weiss BD, Palmer R. Relationship between health care costs and very low literacy skills in a medically needy and indigent medicaid population. J Am Board Fam Pract. 2004; 17(1):44–47.

12. Han JH. Effects of Medication Education for Elderly with Low Health Literacy on Medication Knowledge and Medication Misuse & Abuse Behavior. [master’s thesis]. Daegu: Keimyung Univer-sity;2011. [Korean].

13. Richman JA, Lee JY, Rozier RG, Gong DA, Pahel BT, Vann WF. Evaluation of a word recognition instrument to test health literacy in dentistry: the REALD-99. J Public Health Dent. 2007; 67(2):99–104.

14. Gong DA, Lee JY, Rozier RG, Pahel BT, Richman JA, Vann WF. Development and tesing of the test of functional health literacy in dentistry(TOFHLiD). J Public Health Dent. 2007; 67(2):105–112.

15. Geltman PL, Adams JH, Penrose KL, Cochran J, Rybin D, Doros G, et al. Health Literacy, acculturation, and the use of preventive oral health care by Somali refugees living in Massachusetts. J Immigr Minor Health. 2014; 16(4):622–630.

16. Lee JY, Divaris K, Baker AD, Rozier RG, Vann WF. The relationship of oral health literacy and self-efficacy with oral health status and dental neglect. J Public Health. 2012; 102(5):923–929.

17. Ju HJ. A Cross-sectional Study on Oral Health Literacy and It’ s Influencing Factors among Adults[master’s thesis]. Jeollabuk-do: Wonkwang University;2012. [Korean].

18. Ryu DY. Development of oral health literacy instrument for Korean children’s caregiver[doctor’s thesis]. Gangwon-do: Gangneung-Wonju National University;2013. [Korean].

19. Park JY. Influencing Factors on Functional Health Literacy among the Rural Elderly[master’s thesis]. Chungcheongnam-do: Soon Chun Hyang University;2009. [Korean].

20. Jeon KT. The National Survey of Multicultural Families 2012. Seoul: Ministry of Gender Equality&Family;2013. p. 1–874.

21. Parker RM, Baker DW, William MV, Nurss JR. The test of functional health literacy in adults: a new instrument for measuring patient’s literacy skills. J Gen Intern Med. 1995; 10(10):537–541.

22. Kim ES. A study on analysis of the actual status of multicultural families and suggestions of policy in Gangwon-do. Gangwon: Research Institute for Gangwon;2010. p. 1–325.