Socio-Demographic Determinants of Attitude Towards Oral Hygiene Among Pregnant Women in Rivers East Senatorial District, Rivers State, Nigeria

Poor oral hygiene during pregnancy can lead to prenatal oral conditions which may have adverse consequences for the child. This study investigated the socio-demographic determinants of attitude towards oral hygiene among pregnant women in Rivers East Senatorial District, Rivers State. A descriptive correlational design was adopted with a population which consisted of one hundred and seven thousand nine, hundred and thirty-eight antenatal mothers (107, 938) mothers in Rivers East Senatorial District. A sample size of 880 was selected using a multistage sampling procedure. self-structured questionnaire titled “Attitude towards Oral Health Questionnaire (AtOHQ)” with a reliability index of 0.79. Data was analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Pearson Correlation 0.05 significance level with the aid of Statistical Product Service Solution version 27.0. The finding of the study showed that the attitude of pregnant women towards oral hygiene was positive (2.96±0.93). Positive attitude was more among those aged 40-49 years ( = 2.98±0.92), those tertiary education ( = 3.05±0.86), Christians ( = 3.01±0.92), and 1-3 children ( = 2.97±0.92). Statistically significant relationship was found between attitude towards oral hygiene and education (n = 821, r = 0.25, p = 0.00), religious affiliation (n = 821, r = 0.37, p = 0.00), and parity (n = 821, r = 0.15, p = 0.00). It is concluded that the socio-demographic determinants of both attitude and practices of oral hygiene among pregnant women in Rivers East Senatorial District were: age of women, educational status, religious affiliation and parity. Generally, the practice of oral hygiene was good. Thus, the study recommended that, the Government and health workers should re-emphasize on the seriousness and dangers associated with poor oral health to influence the attitude of the women towards oral hygiene.