Association between maternal psychosocial factors and caries in children in Primary Health Care

Abstract

Introduction: Early Childhood Caries is a disease of high prevalence and severity that affects children in the first years of life, with a multifactorial and complex etiology. One of the factors associated with caries is the psychosocial condition of caregivers of children totally dependent on oral care. Objective: to verify maternal psychosocial factors and their association with caries in one-year-old children in Primary Health Care services in southern Brazil. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study nested in a cohort (Cárie Zero) developed at the Community Health Service of Grupo Hospitalar Conceição, Porto Alegre-RS. The sample consisted of 271 mothers and their children aged 12-15 months and data were collected between 2014 and 2015. Sociodemographic and psychosocial maternal variables and the prevalence of caries in their children were analyzed. The ICDAS method was used by trained and calibrated examiners (minimum Kappa 0.79 intra-examiners). Data analysis: maternal psychosocial variables were tested individually using Poisson's chi-square test. Variables with p<0.20 were entered into a multivariate Poisson Regression model. Variables with p<0.05 were inserted into a final fitted model. Results: the prevalence of caries was 4.06%, (n=11), and it was associated with lower maternal age (PR=0.88; CI=0.79 – 0.99) and with moderate to moderate maternal depressive symptoms. severe (PR=4.5 CI=1.3 – 18.3). Conclusion: it was concluded that children of young mothers and with moderate to severe depressive symptoms had a higher prevalence of caries in the first year of life.