Investigating Perceptions of Teachers and School Nurses on Child and Adolescent Oral Health in Los Angeles County

By FYH News Team

Published on April 23, 2022

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. 2022 Apr 14;19(8):4722.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph19084722.

Carl A Maida¹, Marvin Marcus¹, Di Xiong^{1

2}, Paula Ortega-Verdugo³, Elizabeth Agredano¹, Yilan Huang^{1

2}, Linyu Zhou^{1

2}, Steve Y Lee³, Jie Shen¹, Ron D Hays^{4

5

6}, James J Crall¹, Honghu Liu^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Oral and Systemic Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Division of Preventative and Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁴ Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁵ Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁶ RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA 90407, USA.

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Carl A Maida et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health.

2022.

. 2022 Apr 14;19(8):4722.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph19084722.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Oral and Systemic Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
² Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
³ Division of Preventative and Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁴ Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁵ Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁶ RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA 90407, USA.

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Abstract

This study reports the results of focus groups with school nurses and teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools to explore their perceptions of child and adolescent oral health. Participants included 14 school nurses and 15 teachers (83% female; 31% Hispanic; 21% White; 21% Asian; 14% African American; and 13% Others). Respondents were recruited from Los Angeles County schools and scheduled by school level for six one-hour focus groups using Zoom. Audio recordings were transcribed, reviewed, and saved with anonymization of speaker identities. NVivo software (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia) was used to facilitate content analysis and identify key themes. The nurses’ rate of “Oral Health Education” comments statistically exceeded that of teachers, while teachers had higher rates for “Parental Involvement” and “Mutual Perception” comments. “Need for Care” was perceived to be more prevalent in immigrants to the United States based on student behaviors and complaints. “Access to Care” was seen as primarily the nurses’ responsibilities. Strong relationships between community clinics and schools were viewed by some as integral to students achieving good oral health. The results suggest dimensions and questions important to item development for oral health surveys of children and parents to address screening, management, program assessment, and policy planning.

Keywords:

COVID-19; dental problem; education; focus group; oral health; patient-reported outcome measures.

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