Parents’ sense of coherence in the use of dental services by children aged 12 years old in the city Manaus/AM

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Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the sense of coherence (SOC) of parents/guardians and the use of dental services by children who are 12 years old. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in the eastern zone of the city of Manaus, with 358 children enrolled in the 7th grade in the municipal public school system. Data collection was performed through self-administered questionnaires sent to parents/guardians, which contained questions about socioeconomic conditions, use of dental services by children and Antonovsky’s SOC-13 scale. Data were examined by descriptive and bivariate analysis, using the Chi-square test, with a 5% significance level. Results: Of the 358 children, 58.4% were female; in addition, 75.4% of the parents/guardians self-reported to be brown and 39.9% of them had a family income of ½ to 1 minimum wage. SOC was categorized as strong SOC and weak SOC by the median. The association between strong or weak SOC and the use of dental services in terms of frequency (p= 0.839) and reason for last visit (p= 0.384), was not significant. Conclusion: It was concluded that SOC of parents/guardians and utilization of dental services by children were not associated.

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