Oral Health Status of Hearing-Impaired Students Attending Special Need Schools in Amhara Region, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Hearing-Impaired Students Attending Special Need Schools in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Variables		Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Sex	Male	64	43.0
	Female	85	57.0
Age	7–12 years	27	18.1
	13–18 years	98	65.8
	>18 years	24	16.1
Religion	Orthodox	107	71.8
	Catholic	10	6.7
	Muslim	29	19.5
	Protestant	3	2.0
Location of the participants	Gondar	39	26.2
	Bahir Dar	39	26.2
	Debre Markos	27	18.1
	Dessie	44	29.5
Grade level	1–4	57	38.3
	5–8	72	48.3
	9–12	20	13.4
Mothers educational status	No formal education	126	89.4
	Primary	6	4.3
	Secondary and above	9	6.4
Fathers educational status	No formal education	116	82.9
	Primary	7	5.0
	Secondary and above	17	12.1
Family monthly income	< 2500 Ethiopian birr	115	84.6
	≥2500 Ethiopian Birr	21	15.4

Table 2 Oral Health Behavior of Hearing-Impaired Students Attending Special Need Schools in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2020/21 (n = 149)

Variables		Frequency	Percentage
Sugary food intake	Yes	142	95.3
	No	7	4.7
Frequency of sugary food intake	Some times	63	42.3
	Once a day	34	22.8
	Twice a day	38	25.5
	Three and more times a day	7	4.7
Type of sugary food intake	Milk with sugar	63	42.3
	Juice	46	30.9
	Chewing gum	70	47.0
	Soft drinks	57	38.3
	Deserts	70	47.0
	Candy	85	57.0
Tooth brushing	Yes	120	80.5
	No	29	19.5
Frequency of tooth brushing	Some times	53	35.6
	2–3 times per week	9	6.0
	Once a day	47	31.5
	Twice a day	11	7.4
Tooth brushing materials	Toothbrush	51	34.2
	Tooth stick*	67	45.0
	Charcoal	1	0.7
	Other	1	0.7
Parents support during tooth brushing	Yes	30	20.1
	No	119	79.9
Time of tooth brushing	Before bed	15	10.1
	Before breakfast	81	54.4
	After breakfast and before bed	19	12.8
	At school	1	0.7
Brushing after meal	Never	27	18.1
	Some times	82	55.0
	Always	7	4.7
Changing toothbrush	Monthly	14	9.4
	Every three months	23	15.4
	Every six months	24	16.1
	Yearly	24	16.1
Mouth breathing*	Yes	54	36.2
	No	95	63.8
Sucking habit	Yes	26	17.4
	No	123	82.6
Comorbidity	Yes	17	11.4
	No	132	88.6
Medication	Yes	14	9.4
	No	135	90.6

Notes: *The breathing pattern is assessed using the butterfly test. *Tooth Stick: a traditional tooth brushing material that is prepared from Stick.

Table 3 Prevalence of Periodontal Disease Among Hearing-Impaired School Students in Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia, 2020/21

Variables		Periodontal Disease		P-value (Chi-Square)
		Yes	No
Age	7–12 years	1 (3.7%)	26 (96.3%)	0.031
	13–18 years	26 (26.5%)	72 (73.5%)
	Above 18 years	7 (29.2%)	17 (70.8%)
Sex	Male	18 (28.1%)	46 (71.9%)	0.180
	Females	16 (18.8%)	69 (81.2%)
Location	Gondar	11 (28.2%)	28 (71.8%)	0.576
	Bahir Dar	9 (23.1%)	30 (76.9%)
	Debre Markos	7 (25.9%)	20 (74.1%)
	Dessie	7 (15.9%)	37 (84.1%)
Grade level	1–4	7 (12.3%)	50 (87.7%)	0.043
	5–8	20 (27.8%)	52 (72.2%)
	9–12	7 (35.0%)	13 (65.0%)
Religion	Orthodox	25 (23.4%)	82 (76.6%)	0.955
	Catholic	2 (20.0%)	8 (80.0%)
	Muslim	6 (20.7%)	23 (79.3%)
	Protestant	1 (33.3%)	2 (66.7%)
Sugary food intake	Yes	31 (21.8%)	111 (78.2%)	0.196
	No	3 (42.9%)	4 (57.1%)
Tooth brushing	Yes	27 (22.5%)	93 (77.5%)	0.850
	No	7 (24.1%)	22 (75.9%)
Frequency of tooth brushing	Some times	13 (24.5%)	40 (75.5%)	0.963
	2–3 times per week	2 (22.2%)	7 (77.8%)
	Once a day	9 (19.1%)	38 (80.9%)
	Twice a day	3 (27.3%)	8 (72.7%)
Parents support during tooth brushing	Yes	4 (13.3%)	26 (86.7%)	0.183
	No	22 (25.0%)	66 (75.0%)
Mouth breathing	Yes	6 (11.1%)	48 (88.9%)	0.010
	No	28 (29.5%)	67 (70.5%)
Comorbidity	Yes	3 (17.6%)	14 (82.4%)	0.589
	No	31 (23.5%)	101 (76.5%)
Medication	Yes	3 (21.4%)	11 (78.6%)	0.896
	No	31 (23.0%)	104 (77.0%)
Oral health status	Good	0 (0.0%)	54 (100.0%)	<0.001
	Fair	6 (12.5%)	42 (87.5%)
	Poor	28 (59.6%)	19 (40.4%)
Mothers educational status	No formal education	30 (23.8%)	96 (76.2%)	0.981
	Primary education	1 (16.7%)	5 (83.3%)
	High school and above	2 (22.2%)	7 (77.8%)
Fathers educational status	No formal education	23 (19.8%)	93 (80.2%)	0.327
	Primary education	2 (28.6%)	5 (71.4%)
	High school and above	6 (35.3%)	11 (64.7%)
Class-I occlusion	Yes	22 (20.8%)	84 (79.2%)	0.346
	No	12 (27.9%)	31 (72.1%)
Class-II malocclusion	Yes	10 (45.5%)	12 (54.5%)	0.006
	No	24 (18.9%)	103 (81.1%)
Bleeding on probing	Yes	28 (43.1%)	37 (56.9%)	<0.001
	No	6 (7.1%)	78 (92.9%)
Dental caries	Yes	19 (32.8%)	39 (67.2%)	0.018
	No	15 (16.5%)	76 (83.5%)
Malocclusion	Yes	12 (27.9%)	31 (72.1%)	0.346
	No	22 (20.8%)	84 (79.2%)

Table 4 Factors Associated with Dental Caries Among Hearing-Impaired Students in Special Need Schools in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2020/21

Variables		Dental Caries		p-value (Chi-Square)
		Yes	No
Age	7–12 years	8 (29.6%)	19 (70.4%)	0.509
	13–18 years	41 (41.8%)	57 (58.2%)
	Above 18 years	9 (37.5%)	15 (62.5%)
Sex	Male	24 (37.5%)	40 (62.5%)	0.757
	Females	34 (40.0%)	34 (60.0%)
Grade level	1–4	21 (36.8%)	36 (63.2%)	0.112
	5–8	25 (34.7%)	47 (65.3%)
	9–12	12 (60.0%)	8 (40.0%)
Religion	Orthodox	39 (36.4%)	68 (63.6%)	0.709
	Catholic	4 (40.0%)	6 (60.0%)
	Muslim	14 (48.3%)	15 (51.7%)
	Protestant	1 (33.3%)	2 (66.7%)
Sugary food intake	Yes	56 (39.4%)	86 (60.6%)	0.565
	No	2 (71.4%)	5 (28.6%)
Tooth brushing	Yes	47 (39.2%)	73 (60.8%)	0.903
	No	11 (37.9%)	18 (62.1%)
Frequency of tooth brushing	Some times	18 (34.0%)	35 (66.0%)	0.749
	2–3 times per week	3 (33.3%)	6 (66.7%)
	Once a day	22 (46.8%)	25 (53.2%)
	Twice a day	4 (36.4%)	7 (63.6%)
Parents support during tooth brushing	Yes	18 (60.0%)	12 (40.0%)	0.006
	No	28 (31.8%)	60 (68.2%)
Mouth breathing	Yes	22 (40.7%)	32 (59.3%)	0.732
	No	36 (37.9%)	59 (62.1%)
Comorbidity	Yes	11 (64.7%)	6 (35.3%)	0.021
	No	47 (35.6%)	85 (64.4%)
Medication	Yes	11 (78.6%)	3 (21.4%)	0.001
	No	47 (34.8%)	88 (65.2%)
Oral health status	Good	14 (25.9%)	40 (74.1%)	0.000
	Fair	15 (31.3%)	33 (68.8%)
	Poor	29 (61.7%)	18 (38.3%)
Mothers educational status	No formal education	29 (40.3%)	43 (59.7%)	0.304
	Read and Write	22 (40.7%)	32 (59.3%)
	Formal education	3 (20.0%)	12 (80.0%)
Fathers educational status	No formal education	24 (37.5%)	40 (62.5%)	0.838
	Read and Write	21 (40.4%)	31 (59.6%)
	Formal education	8 (33.3%)	16 (66.7%)
Class-2 malocclusion	Yes	11 (50.0%)	11 (50.0%)	0.249
	No	47 (37.0%)	80 (63.0%)
Bleeding on probing	Yes	36 (55.4%)	29 (44.6%)	0.000
	No	22 (26.2%)	62 (73.8%)
Sucking habits	Yes	14 (53.8%)	12 (46.2%)	0.086
	No	44 (35.8%)	79 (64.2%)
Periodontal disease	Ye	19 (55.9%)	15 (44.1%)	0.021
	No	39 (33.9%)	76 (66.1%)

Table 5 DMFT/dmft Index of Hearing-Impaired Students Attending Special Need Schools in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2020/21

Variables		Mean DMFT (Permanent Dentition)	Mean dmft (Primary Dentition)
Age	7–12 years	0.74±1.831	0.63±1.214
	13–18 years	1.16±1.524	0.00±0.000
	Above 18 years	1.54±1.911	0.00±0.000
Sex	Male	1.05±1.474	0.14±0.639
	Females	1.22±1.782	0.09±.503
Grade level	Grade 1–4	1.26±1.996	0.30±0.886
	Grade 5–8	0.85±1.146	0.00±0.000
	Grade 9–12	1.90±1.917	0.00±0.000

Table 6 Factors Associated with the Periodontal Disease Among Special Need Students in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2021 (n = 149)

Independent Variables		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	P-value
Age	7–12 years	10.71 (1.21,94.96)	5.02 (0.47,53.80)	0.183
	13–18 years	1.14 (0.43,3.06)	0.87 (0.28,2.69)	0.815
	Above 18 years	1	1
Sex	Male	0.59 (0.27, 1.28)	0.515 (0.227,1.172)	0.230
	Female	1	1
Grade level	1–4	3.85 (1.14, 12.93)	3.94 (1.16, 13.38)	0.001
	5–8	1.40 (0.49, 4.02)	1.39 (0.48, 4.02)	0.586
	9–12	1	1
Sugary food intake	Yes	2.69 (0.57, 12.64)	2.99 (0.59, 14.97)	0.184
	No	1	1
Parents support during tooth brushing	Never	0.60 (0.07, 5.42)	1.63 (0.14, 18.64)	0.694
	Sometimes	1.40 (0.12, 16.46)	1.92 (0.15, 24.41)	0.615
	Always	1	1
Comorbidity	Yes	2.02 (0.89, 4.56)	1.19 (0.07, 19.77)	0.905
	No	1	1
Fathers educational status	No formal education	3.06 (1.01, 9.21)	4.98 (1.00, 24.63)	0.049
	Read and Write	1.36 (0.48, 3.87)	2.78 (0.60, 12.89)	0.190
	Formal education	1	1
Class-2 malocclusion	Yes	0.28 (0.11, 0.72)	0.41 (0.14, 1.24)	0.116
	No	1	1
Dental caries	Ye	2.47 (1.13, 5.38)	2.51 (1.08, 5.08)	0.032
	No	1	1
Medication	Yes	1.09 (0.29, 4.17)	0.66 (0.04, 11.50)	0.772
	No	1	1
Mouth breather	Yes	3.34 (1.29, 8.70)	2.21 (0.69, 7.09)	0.183
	No	1	1
Bleeding on probing	Yes	0.10 (0.04, 0.27)	9.892 (3.687, 26.537)	<0.001
	No	1	1
Years lived with disability	0.89	0.89 (0.80, 0.99)	0.96 (0.85, 1.08)	0.465

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOD, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Table 7 Factors Associated with Dental Caries Among Special Need Students in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2021 (n = 149)

Independent Variables		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	P-value
Grade level	1–4	1	1
	5–8	0.91 (0.44, 1.88)	1.29 (0.529, 3.15)	0.575
	9–12	2.57 (0.91, 7.30)	4.45 (1.10, 21.28)	0.037
Parents support during tooth brushing	Yes	1	1
	No	3.21 (1.36,7.57)	5.10 (1.89, 13.76)	0.001
		2.14 (0.41, 11.29)	3.72 (0.66, 20.84)	0.135
Comorbidity	Yes	3.32 (1.15, 9.54)	3.12 (0.89, 10.89)	0.075
	No	1	1
Oral health status	Good	1	1
	Fair	1.29 (0.55, 3.08)	1.31 (0.49, 3.46)	587
	Poor	4.60 (1.98, 10.73)	8.07 (2.49, 26.18)	0.001
Class-2 malocclusion	Yes	1.70 (0.69, 4.23)	0.83 (0.21, 3.31)	0.796
	No	1	1
Sucking habits	Yes	2.09 (0.89, 4.91)	1.52 (0.54, 4.27)	0.424
	No	1	1
Periodontal disease	Ye	2.47 (1.13, 5.38)	0.83 (0.29, 2.38)	0.726
	No	1	1
Medication	Yes	6.87 (1.83, 25.82)	9.26 (2.17, 39.45)	0.003
	No	1	1

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOD, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.