“Who cares” is key: factors associated with oral health status in children living with HIV in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify social, clinical, and behavioral factors associated with the oral health status of children living with HIV in Phnom Penh, focusing particularly on the effect of primary caregiver type. Data were collected through separate interviews with children and caregivers. The decayed, missing, filled permanent teeth (DMFT) index and debris index scores were assessed for each child. Associations between oral health status and caregiver type as well as with other factors were examined using multiple linear regression. Of 142 total dyads (mean child and caregiver age, 12.3 (SD 1.8) and 44.8 (SD 10.6) years, respectively) 48.6% and 29.6% of caregivers were biological parents and institutional staff, respectively. Children with institutional staff as a primary caregiver had a lower DMFT score (2.81 vs. 5.50), higher rate of ever visiting a dentist (90.5% vs. 50.7%), and better oral health status than those cared for by biological parents. Higher DMFT score was negatively associated with institutional staff as primary caregiver (β: −1.642, 95% CI: −2.925, −0.360) and positively associated with longer antiretroviral therapy period (β: 0.223, 95% CI: 0.056, 0.390). Targeted oral health care programs are needed for children living with HIV whose biological parents are their primary caregivers.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• oral health
• children
• Cambodia
• dental caries
• dental plaque

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all the participants, members of the National Pediatric Hospital, and research staff for their contributions to this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Kimiyo Kikuchi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9397-4327

Siyan Yi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3045-5386

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Kyushu University QR program and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; KAKENHI [grant number JP17H04658]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of funder.