The Influence of a School-Based Online Educational Intervention on Oral Health Behaviors of Primary School Students during the Covid-۱۹ Pandemic: Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior

Background: Dental caries are one of the children’s most common chronic diseases. This study aims to examine the influence of school-based online education on oral hygiene behaviors during COVID-۱۹. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on ۱۲۰ students in the ۵th and ۶th grades of primary school in Shazand, Iran, from February ۲۰۲۲ to April ۲۰۲۲. The participants were selected by cluster sampling method and divided into two groups; control (n=۶۰) and experimental (n=۶۰). The data collection instrument checked the participants’ demographic information, constructions of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and oral health behaviors before and after the intervention. The experimental group participated in four online educational sessions (each session was ۱ hour) in SHAD software. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) were used to analyze the data via SPSS version ۲۳. Results: The mean ±standard deviation (SD) of the students’ age was ۱۱.۵۰ ± ۰.۵۰. Before the intervention, there was no significant relationship between the oral hygiene behavior of the two groups and the TPB constructions (p>۰.۰۵). A month after the intervention, the mean scores of the oral hygiene behavior, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention significantly increased in the experimental group (p<۰.۰۰۱). After the intervention, both twice brushing a day and once a day flossing significantly increased in the experimental group; from ۲۸.۲ % to ۷۳.۳ % and from ۵۰ % to ۷۵ %, respectively (p<۰.۰۰۱). Conclusion: Rendering the results of this study, online educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior promotes the oral health behaviors of primary school students.

Keywords:

oral health behavior , , , , , COVID-۱۹ , , , , , Theory of planned behavior , , , , , students , , , , , intervention , , , , , school-based