Family Religiosity and Oral Health Related Quality of Life: a Multilevel Analysis in Brazilian Schoolchildren.

Abstract Religiosity has been associated with a better dental condition and positive self-perception of health, but there are no studies on the relationship between religious practice and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL), especially among schoolchildren. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the association between family religiosity and OHRQoL in 12-year-old schoolchildren. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a representative sample of 12-year-old schoolchildren from Santa Maria, a city in southern Brazil. A total of 1,134 schoolchildren were assessed in a randomly selected in 20 public schools in the city. Participants were examined by 4 calibrated dentists (minimum Kappa-value for intra and inter-examiner agreement were 0.79 and 0.77, respectively) according to dental caries (Decayed, Missed, Filled Teeth Index), and gingival bleeding (Community Periodontal Index criteria). OHRQoL was assessed by the Brazilian short version of Child Perceptions for Questionnaire (CPQ11-14). Parents or guardians answered a structured questionnaire regarding their socioeconomic status and religious practice. Data were analyzed using multilevel Poisson regression analysis to assess the association of religiosity and overall and domain-specific CPQ 11-14 scores. Religious practice less than once a week was associated with higher mean symptoms domain scores and higher mean CPQ 11-14 overall scores in schoolchildren. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that family religiosity was positively associated with schoolchildren’s OHRQoL.

摘要：已有研究表明，宗教虔诚与更良好的口腔健康状况及积极的健康自我感知存在关联，但目前尚无关于宗教行为与口腔健康相关生活质量（oral health-related quality of life，OHRQoL）之间关系的研究，尤其是在学龄儿童群体中。因此，本研究旨在探讨12岁学龄儿童的家庭宗教虔诚与OHRQoL之间的关联。本研究针对巴西南部圣玛丽亚市的12岁学龄儿童代表性样本开展了一项横断面研究。从该市20所公立学校中随机抽取受试者，共评估了1134名学龄儿童。由4名经过校准的牙医根据龋病诊断标准（龋失补牙数指数，Decayed, Missed, Filled Teeth Index）以及牙龈出血判定标准（社区牙周指数标准，Community Periodontal Index criteria）对受试者进行检查，组内与组间检查者一致性的最小Kappa值分别为0.79与0.77。采用巴西版儿童感知问卷简版（CPQ11-14）评估受试者的OHRQoL。家长或监护人填写关于其社会经济状况与宗教行为的结构化问卷。采用多层泊松回归分析对数据进行处理，以评估宗教虔诚与CPQ11-14总分及各维度得分之间的关联。结果显示，每周宗教行为少于1次的学龄儿童，其症状维度平均得分及CPQ11-14总分的平均水平均更高。综上，本研究结果表明，家庭宗教虔诚与学龄儿童的OHRQoL呈正相关。