Predicting Dental Caries Preventive Behaviors Among Pregnant Women Based on Self-Efficacy and the Theory of Planned Behavior

Pregnant women’s oral and dental hygiene is of great importance to maternal and neonatal health. This study aimed to predict dental caries preventive behaviors among pregnant women based on self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior.
This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2016 on 258 pregnant women recruited from comprehensive healthcare centers in Birjand, Iran. Sampling was done via multistage random sampling. Data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire developed based on self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior. The content validity of the instrument was approved by 10 faculty members and its reliability was approved with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77. Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted via the SPSS software (v. 19.0) to analyze the data at a significance level of less than 0.05.
The mean of participants’ age was 27.6 ± 5.1 and the mean of the decayed, missing, and filled teeth index was 5.4 ± 3.5. Regression analysis showed that self-efficacy and the constructs of the theory of planned behavior explained 47% of the total variance of the intention to show dental caries preventive behaviors. The strongest predictors of behavioral intention were self-efficacy (R2 = 0.34) and the subjective norm construct of the theory (R2 = 0.313).
Self-efficacy and subjective norm are the strongest predictors of dental caries preventive behaviors among pregnant women. The combination of self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior can provide a useful framework for developing and implementing educational interventions for the prevention of dental caries among pregnant women and the promotion of maternal and neonatal health.