Determinants of Oral Health Behavior among Preschool Children: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

Statement of the problem: dental caries is the most common chronic disease among children. determinants of children’s oral health behavior should be better understood and known. purpose: this study aimed to investigate the predictive factors of oral health be-havior among preschool children based on the theory of planned behavior (tpb). materials and method: this cross-sectional study included 833 mother-child pairs referring to twenty health centers in tabriz, north-west iran, from august 2014 to november 2015. the participants were selected by multi-stage stratified random sampling. data were collected through self-administered questionnaires completed by the participating mothers. the questionnaire consisted of demograph-ic characteristics, oral health behavior, and tpb structures (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention). results: the mean±standard deviation (sd) of children’s age was 4.6±1.1 years (ranging 3–6), and 52% were boys. 20.3% of mothers had university degrees. the mean (sd) score of children’s oral health behavior was 5.8 (±1.9) out of 8. muliple regression analysis revealed a positive relationship between all tpb structures and children’s oral health behavior f(11,821)=41.8, r=0.6, (p< 0.001). furthermore, the tpb structures explained 35% and 29% of the variance in children’s oral health behavior and maternal intention towards it, respectively. conclusion: based on the current finding, tbp is the important predictor of chil-dren’s oral health behavior. effective promotion interventions could be designed based on this predictor to help improving the children’s oral hygiene behavior.