Development and Practice of a Health-Oral Health Combined Education Program

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to develop a health-oral health combined education program and to examine effectiveness in primary school children. Methods: This study was designed as a non-equivalent control group pre-post test. We selected 164 children from G primary school in E-gun Chung-buk as the experimental group and 100 Children from S primary as controls. Data were collected from November 11, 2008, to February 11, 2009, and analyzed with SPSS 17.0. We tested the main and interaction effects of the General Linear Model(GLM) by repeated measures ANOVA. Results: The two groups showed different abilities to control oral hygiene(PHP index) and health promotion behaviors as the main effect of groups and an interaction effect with GLM. Later time points showed less deterioration in the PHP and health promotion behaviors in the experimental. [Ed- Please check.] Self esteem as the most important variable affecting health promotion behavior, followed by school grades, gender, and self-efficacy. Conclusion: Health promotion programs combined with oral health skills could improve the health behaviors of primary school children