Oral health literacy and its associated factors among nurses: A cross-sectional study

Aims and ObjectivesTo investigate the oral health literacy (OHL) of nurses and explore the factors affecting their OHL. BackgroundOHL is important for improving the oral health outcomes. Nurses' OHL may affect the oral health of themselves, families, and patients. Few studies have examined the OHL and its related factors among nurses. DesignA cross-sectional design following the STROBE guideline. MethodsA total of 449 nurses were recruited from tertiary hospitals in the minority areas of southwest China. The participants completed an online questionnaire, which contained questions related to the OHL, sociodemographic factors, general health, oral health and related behaviours, oral health knowledge, attitudes, and oral health-related quality of life. OHL was measured using the validated Chinese version of the short-form Health Literacy of Dentistry (HeLD-14) scale. Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlation, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyse the data. ResultsThe median HeLD-14 score (p25-p75) was 50.0 (44.0-54.0). The regression model for OHL was found to be significant. The factors that influenced OHL included oral health knowledge, oral health attitudes, self-reported oral health, annual household income, and dental flossing; these factors accounted for 13.9% of the variance in OHL. ConclusionsThe nurse' OHL has room for improvement. Nurses' OHL could be improved by enriching their oral health knowledge, promoting their positive oral health attitudes, increasing their household income, and helping them build correct oral health behaviours. Relevance to clinical practiceThe findings of the study could be used to make a case for changing nursing curricula. Oral health knowledge curriculum or programmes targeted towards nurses should be developed to improve their OHL. Patient or public contributionNo Patient or Public Contribution.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to investigate the oral health literacy (OHL) of nurses and explore the factors affecting their OHL. The results showed that there is room for improvement in nurses' OHL, and it can be improved by enriching their oral health knowledge, promoting positive oral health attitudes, increasing household income, and helping them build correct oral health behaviors.