TY  - JOUR
TI  - Oral Health Related Knowledge, 
Practices and Opinions of Caregivers at 
the Biggest Care Home for People with 
Disability in Turkey
AB  - Objective: People with disability have worse oral health than the healthy ones 
usually because of their inability to perform good daily oral hygiene, lack of 
knowledge of their caregivers and inadequate health policies. This study aimed to 
evaluate the oral health-related knowledge, practices and opinions of a group of 
caregivers in the biggest care home in Turkey.
Materials and Methods: A total of 170 caregivers were requested to complete a 
questionnaire prior to receiving training regarding oral health. The chi-square test 
was used to evaluate the statistical significance.
Results: Among the 322 residents with disability, 255 (79.2%) had mental 
disability and 64 (19.9%) had physical disability. Of the caregivers, 147 volunteered 
to participate (response rate 86.5%). Their mean age was 41.4 years. More than 
half of the caregivers (n=98, 66.6%) had been working for 5 to 14 years. Most 
of them (81.6%) reported that they performed oral hygiene procedures for 228 
residents, and 97 (44.1%) reported that they brushed the teeth of residents three 
times per day. However, 102 caregivers reported that they did not know about the 
significance of dental plaque. Nearly two-thirds of the caregivers (n=95, 64.6%) 
had not previously received any education regarding oral care and 98 declared 
that they need training, of whom 74 requested that it should be practical. Female 
caregivers needed oral care training more than male caregivers. Although not 
statistically significant, caregivers who have been working for ≤5 years and those 
with at least a high school education reported more need for oral care training. The 
caregivers working ≤5 years had the least level of previous education on oral care. 
Conclusion: The caregivers need comprehensive training on oral health in the 
biggest care home in Turkey to be able to provide adequate oral health care for the 
disabled residents
AU  - UZAMIS TEKCICEK, MERYEM
AU  - Ergin, Esra
AU  - Turgut, Melek D.
AU  - Ballikaya, Elif
AU  - GUCİZ DOGAN, Bahar
DO  - 10.4274/meandros.galenos.2021.15870
PY  - 2021
JO  - Meandros Medical And Dental Journal
VL  - 22
IS  - 1
SN  - 2149-9063
SP  - 94
EP  - 101
DB  - TRDizin
UR  - http://search/yayin/detay/530108
ER  -