Intention to obtain silver diamine fluoride treatment for dental caries among elderly

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the intention of the elders to use the Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) treatment for stopping dental caries progression after being informed Materials and Methods: The elders aged 60-90 years old who are independent and can read Thai were recruited. A questionnaire-guided interview was performed to the elders after introduction of the SDF treatment. The questionnaire-guided interview was guided by the Theory of Reason Action (TRA) composed of 23 questions of 7 constructs including behavioral belief, evaluation of behavioral outcome, normative belief, motivation to comply, attitude towards behavior, subjective norm and intention. The intention to do the SDf treatment was use to indicate SDF acceptance or SDF unacceptance. Socio-demographic data and TRA variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 588 participants with a mean (standard deviation) age of 65.3 (5.53) years were recruited. About 52.7% and 58.1% of the participant were females, and unemployed/retired, respectively. Most of the participants (80.8%) stayed with family. Most participants (63.4%, 62.9% and 63.6%) had less than a sixth-grade education, had a monthly family income of less than 10,000 Baht and had underlying diseases. 82.5% of the participant indicated the intention to do the SDF treatment. The average (standard deviation) of the intention score was 2.14 (0.54). The statistically significant factors associated with intention to do the SDF treatment are age (P=0.021), family income (P < 0.001), having underlying disease (P < 0.001), dental problem (P < 0.001) and afraid of going to see the dentist (P < 0.001). Scores of the intention was resembled to the scores of others TRA variables except Motivation to comply and Normative belief. Conclusion: Most (82.5%)Thai elderly indicated they intended to use of SDF treatment for arresting dental caries. The different intention depended on different characteristics such as age, family income, having underlying disease, having dental problems, and afraid of going to see the dentist (P < 0.001).