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- Title
Enrollment in early head start and oral health-related quality of life.
- Authors
Burgette, Jacqueline; Preisser, John; Weinberger, Morris; King, Rebecca; Lee, Jessica; Rozier, R. Gary; Burgette, Jacqueline M; Preisser, John S; King, Rebecca S; Lee, Jessica Y
- Abstract
<bold>Purpose: </bold>Dental problems in young children are widespread and can negatively impact quality of life. We examined the effect of enrollment in North Carolina Early Head Start (EHS)-a federally funded early education program for children under three years of age and their families-on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL).<bold>Methods: </bold>In this quasi-experimental study, we interviewed 479 EHS and 699 Medicaid matched parent-child dyads at baseline (children's average age 10 months) and 24 months later. Parents reported OHRQoL using the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS), a 0-52 point scale with higher scores representing more negative impacts. We used a marginalized semicontinuous two-part model to estimate: (1) the effect of EHS on the probability of reporting any follow-up impacts (ECOHIS ≥ 1), and (2) the difference in overall mean ECOHIS follow-up scores. We controlled for baseline ECOHIS, language, and EHS and non-EHS group imbalances using a propensity score.<bold>Results: </bold>At follow-up, negative OHRQoL impacts were more often reported by parents of non-EHS than EHS children (45 versus 37%, P < .01). In the adjusted model, EHS parents reported a lower odds of negative OHRQoL impacts (OR 0.70; 95% CI 0.52, 0.94). Mean adjusted ECOHIS scores were not significantly different (EHS: 1.59 ± 3.34 versus non-EHS: 2.11 ± 3.85, P > 0.05).<bold>Conclusions: </bold>This study is the first to demonstrate that families of young children enrolled in EHS report improved OHRQoL compared to their non-enrolled peers. These results highlight the potential effectiveness of improving the quality of life of low-resource families through early childhood education.
- Subjects
CHILDREN'S dental care; ORAL hygiene; HEALTH programs; DENTAL surveys; WELL-being; SOCIAL life & customs of students; QUESTIONNAIRES; RESEARCH funding; SICKNESS Impact Profile; EARLY intervention (Education)
- Publication
Quality of Life Research, 2017, Vol 26, Issue 10, p2607
- ISSN
0962-9343
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.1007/s11136-017-1584-7