DMFT and OHIS Indexes in Pregnant Mothers: An Explanation Based on the Health Belief Model

Introduction: Oral health, including dental health, is one of the most importantparts of public health. The purpose of this study was to assess the factorsinfluencing oral and dental health in pregnant mothers in urban health centers inKhorramabad, Iran in 2016, based on the Health Belief Model (HBM).Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 340 pregnant mothers living inKhorramabad, Iran were selected from health centers using multi-stage randomsampling. The decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) index, the Oral Health Index– Simplified (OHIS), the health belief model (HBM) scale, and performanceregarding oral and dental health care were measured and the data were analyzed.This data were analyzed using the SPSS 20 software and descriptive statisticaltests, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression.Results: The mean DMFT score was 7.8 ± 3.27 and the mean OHIS score was2.74 ± 1.65. The Pearson correlation coefficient showed a direct and significantrelationship between the constructs of the health belief model and performance(p < 0.05). Among the constructs of the health belief model, self-efficacy (22.2%) had the highest predictive power. In addition, there was a positive correlationbetween the DMFT and OHIS scores.Conclusion: The present study showed that cognitive barriers are associated withoral and dental health behaviors and they should receive attention from oral anddental health professionals. On the other hand, the most important predictivevariable of oral health care among pregnant mothers is self-efficacy. Therefore,the self-efficacy of pregnant women should be boosted for them to practice goodoral and dental health care.

Keywords:

Health Belief Model , Pregnant Mothers , DMFT , OHIS