Associação entre a cárie dentária, o desempenho e o absenteísmo escolar de adolescentes de 12 anos da cidade de Manaus – AM : um estudo transversal

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between dental caries, its clinical consequences, school performance and absenteeism, adjusted for confounding variables, in 12 year-old adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted in municipal and state schools in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. A sample of 789 12-year-old schoolchildren was examined by 11 calibrated researchers who measure the experience of dental caries (DMFT Index) and its clinical consequences (PUFA/pufa Index). School performance and absenteeism were measured using school report cards. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, beliefs in oral health of parents and schoolchildren, health behaviors, family context, self-esteem, experience of bullying, dental pain, network and social support, sense of coherence, quality of life related to oral health, and self-perception of general and oral health were also evaluated. The descriptive analysis of the data revealed that 55% of the sample was composed of female students, 67.9% self-declared as brown, and 61.9% were enrolled in state schools. The mean DMFT and PUFA/pufa were 0.95 (± 1.45) and 0.21 (± 0.58), respectively, while the mean school performance was 5.70 (± 0.79) and the mean hours of missed classes were 37.45 (± 34.00). The parsimonious model showed that the worst school performance is associated with non-brown students, with worse beliefs in oral health, who receive less social support from teachers, who are victims of bullying and who are enrolled in municipal schools. The type of school showed the highest strength of association for school performance (PR = 1.08 95% CI [1.04 – 1.13]). Meanwhile, higher absenteeism is associated with the low level of education of parents/guardians, worse perception of general health, low self-esteem, smaller social network of friends, clinical consequences of untreated caries, and being enrolled in municipal schools. The level of education of parents/guardians showed the strongest association with school absenteeism (PR = 1.27 95% CI [1.12 – 1.44]). It is concluded that the consequences of untreated caries are associated with higher absenteeism among 12-year-old schoolchildren and that demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, psychosocial and environmental factors affect school performance and absenteeism.