Oral Health Literacy, Attitude, and Behavior Among the Students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences: A Cross-sectional Study

Knowledge of the current state of oral health behaviors is essential for making oral health related decisions. The present study aims to assess the relationship between oral health literacy and attitude towards oral health, as factors affecting oral health behaviors, among the students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (AJUMS).

This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey. The study population consists of all students of AJUMS in all educational levels (bachelor’s, master’s, professional doctorate and specialized doctorate) in the academic year of 2021-2022 (n=6851). Of these, 363 were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire with 42 items and four sections of demographic information (3 items), oral health literacy (23 items answered as correct with 1 point or incorrect with 0 points), attitude towards oral health (7 items ted on a five-point Likert scale from 1 to 5) and oral health behaviors (9 items answered by yes or no). Data analysis was done in SPSS software, version 26 using descriptive statistics, correlation test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Mann Whitney U test

Findings showed that 81% of students had high oral health literacy. Demographic factors of gender, age, and educational level had no significant effect on the oral health literacy, attitude, and behaviors of the students. The relationship between oral health literacy and attitude was negative and significant; students who had negative attitudes towards oral health had lower oral health literacy. No significant difference in attitudes was reported in terms of oral health behaviors, but the difference in oral health literacy was significant in terms of oral health behavior. 

Oral health literacy of medical students is inversely related to their attitude towards oral health, and directly related to their oral health behaviors.