DOI: 10.4103/ijdr.ijdr_900_25 ISSN: 0970-9290

Influence of Employment on Social Network, Dental Caries and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Mothers - A Comparative Study

Twinkle Tiwari, Jagadeeswara R. Sukhabogi, Dolar Doshi, Preethi Lunavath, D. Vijayalakshmi
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Abstract

Objective:

To evaluate the influence of mothers’ employment status on social network, dental caries and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life.

Materials and Methods:

The study sample comprised 284 mothers visiting a tertiary government dental hospital. Demographic details, the Social Network Index (SNI) using an 11-item questionnaire by Berkman and Syme, Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) and untreated dental caries were recorded. A multiple logistic regression (MLR) analysis was performed to identify the magnitude of associations among Oral Health Impacts Profile (OHIP- 14), SNI, dental caries, and categorisation was done according to OHIP-14 and SNI levels based on employment status.

Results:

A significantly lower mean OHIP-14 score was noted among work-based mothers ( P = 0.002). However, work-based mothers had higher mean SNI scores, which were not significant ( P = 0.8). No significant differences in OHIP-14, SNI and dental caries were noted among work- and home-based mothers based on the logistic regression analysis. Nevertheless, OHIP-14 and dental caries were positively correlated in both home-based ( P = 0.0001) and work-based ( P = 0.00001) mothers.

Conclusion:

The study concluded that working mothers had better OHIP-14 scores, lower prevalence of mean dental caries score and greater social integration; however, these outcomes were comparable to those observed among home-based respondents.

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