Assessment of the oral health literacy and oral health behavior among nurses in China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Oral health is important for general health, nurses are expected to possess good oral health awareness and work together for public oral health promotion, but there is scarce information available on oral health literacy and oral health behavior among nurses.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate oral health literacy and behaviors of nurses, analyze the association between oral health literacy with demographic variables and oral health behaviors.Design: An exploratory research approach was used.Methods: A cross-sectional study in one tertiary hospital was conducted using a short-form Health Literacy in Dentistry-14 (HeLD-14) and a 16-items oral care behaviors questionnaire. Information about the subjects’ demographic details including age, gender, place of residence, marital status, marital status, education level, monthly household income, working experience, etc. were collected. Multivariable regression was used to identify the association of oral health literacy with demographic variables and oral health behaviors.Results: A total number of 317 nursing nurses participated in the survey, with a mean OHL score of 36.72, SD10.531, 21.8% were categorized as good,34.1% medium and 44.2% poor oral health literacy; monthly household income, self-rated oral health, brushing time, use of fluoride toothpaste, and regular oral examination were the influencing factors of oral health literacy among nurses.Conclusion: The overall oral health literacy of the nurse population is at a moderate to low level. These findings may help to map and design an oral health education intervention to improve oral health literacy amongst nurses, especially nurses with low monthly household income and poor self-assessed oral health status. Nursing administrators and nursing educators should pay more attention to the oral health status of the nurse population.