Parental influence on children’s answers to an oral-health-related quality of life questionnaire

Ana Flávia Granville-Garcia, Monalisa Cesarino Gomes, Laíza Rocha Dantas, Lívia Rocha Dantas, Bruno Rafael Cruz da Silva, Matheus de França Perazzo, Maria Betânia Lins Dantas Siqueira

The aim of the study was to evaluate parental influence on children's answers to an oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) questionnaire. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a non-probabilistic sample of 84 pairs of 5-year-olds and parents/guardians. The participants were selected from a primary family healthcare center in Campina Grande, Brazil. First, the children and parents answered respective versions of the Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for Five-Year-Old Children (SOHO-5). Seven days later, the children answered their version of the SOHO-5, without the presence of their parents/guardians, and underwent a clinical exam of dental caries, traumatic dental injury and malocclusion, by a previously calibrated researcher. Statistical analysis involved a comparison of mean scores and the calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Poisson regression models were used to associate the variables (α = 5%). No significant differences were found between the mean SOHO-5 scores of the children when alone or accompanied by parents/guardians (p > 0.05). The ICC between the answers of the children alone or accompanied was 0.84. White spot (PR = 6.32; 95%CI: 1.36 - 29.40) and cavitated lesions (PR = 9.81; 95%CI: 3.22 - 29.85) had an impact on OHRQoL, according to the children's self-report, whereas cavitated lesions (PR = 90.52; 95%CI: 13.26 - 617.74) and anterior open bite (PR = 1.95; 95%IC: 1.07 - 3.53) remained on the final model, according to the parents' version of the SOHO-5. In conclusion, parents did not influence the children's responses, and dental caries are the oral health problem exerting the greatest impact on the children's OHRQoL.