The Effectiveness of a Participatory Health Education Program on Oral Health Behaviors Among Grade 4–6 Students at Wat Pho School (Phak Hai Wittayakarn)

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a health education program that promotes teacher and peer participation on oral health behaviors among Grade 4–6 students at Wat Pho (Phak Hai Wittayakarn).

Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design among Grade 4–6 students

Results: A total of 70 students participated in the study, with complete oral hygiene and dental caries data available for 63 students. After participating in the program, students’ mean knowledge scores increased significantly (from 3.9±0.8 to 4.5±0.79, p-value <0.01), whereas attitude scores (from 2.6±0.9 to 2.9±0.8, p-value =0.06) and behavior scores (from 16.2±3.8 to 16.9±2.9, p-value =0.22) showed no statistically significant differences. The mean Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) score decreased significantly after the program, from 1.9±0.5 to 1.2±0.4 (p-value <0.01) across all grade levels.

Conclusion: The health education program integrating the participation of teachers, parents, and student leaders demonstrated clear effectiveness in improving the oral hygiene status of primary school students, particularly through a significant increase in knowledge scores and a significant reduction in mean plaque index scores. However, no statistically significant differences were observed in attitudes and behaviors. The findings indicate that a multi-stakeholder participatory approach has potential to enhance oral health behaviors among school children and can be applied as a model for school-based oral health promotion.

Keywords: Oral health, Primary school students, Participation