Accessibility to Oral Health Care Services and Oral Health-Related Quality of Life among Children with Cerebral Palsy

Children with cerebral palsy (CP) are highly dependent on their caregivers to access oral health care services (OHS), which leads to unmet oral health needs that affect their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). This study explored accessibility to OHS and OHRQoL among children with CP attending Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) centres in Kelantan by their primary caregivers. A cross-sectional study using Accessibility to Oral Health Care Services (CP2OHS) and Parental-Caregiver Perception Questionnaire (P-CPQ) was conducted on 81 children with CP and their primary caregivers. CP2OHS domains are “ability to perceive”, “ability to engage”, “ability to seek”, “ability to pay”, and “ability to reach”, while PCPQ domains include oral symptoms, functional limitation, emotional wellbeing, and social well-being. Children with CP were mostly males (63.0%), with a mean (SD) age of 10.3 (3.93) years, Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) Level V (46.9%), and Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) Level III (33.3%). Their caregivers were mainly female (85.2%), aged 43.6 (9.34) years. The mean (SD) total score for CP2OHS was 29.67 (10.81) of –56 to 56 and P-CPQ was 13.21 (5.89) of 8 to 40. There was a significant difference in accessibility scores between tertiary, lower secondary, and primary levels of education (p = 0.009); village and city/ town residents (p = 0.013); and transportation with personal car and motorcycle (p = 0.004). The Pearson analysis revealed a weak positive correlation between accessibility and OHRQoL scores (r = 0.158, p = 0.16) that was not statistically significant. Children with CP posed high CP2OHS scores and low P-CPQ scores, indicating high accessibility to OHS and high OHRQoL. Strengthening OHS utilisation among these children is crucial for a better quality of life for them.