Page 94 - FINAL COMPENDIUM 2020-2021 27.2.2022

INFORMATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AMONG PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH EARLY
CHILDHOOD CARIES: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Ratnasingam MD, Kuppusamy E, Yazid F, Rosli TI, Sockalingam SNMP, Mhd Ali A
Introduction: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) affects over 600 million children worldwide
with about 70% of 5-year-old Malaysian preschool children experiencing dental caries.
Information seeking behaviour (ISB) is important as it can influence positive changes in
people’s health-related behaviours. Parents play an important role in the prevention of
ECC by effectively searching for and practising the necessary information. Objectives: To
explore the ISB among parents of children with ECC including how they looked for
information on ECC, the type of information they wanted and the preferred source.
Materials and methods: Parents of children being treated for ECC were conveniently
sampled from the Dental Faculty of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Hospital
Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM). Semi-structured in-depth interviews involving 20
participants were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded and
thematic analysis carried out to construct a conceptual framework. Results: The four
themes identified were immediacy of seeking information, the perceived information
need, use of resources, and the challenges or barriers experienced. The immediacy of
seeking information subthemes were immediate, delayed or non-seeker/passive. Those
who sought information perceived their information need in the areas of disease,
prevention and management. The use of resources occasionally differed between the
resources used and their preferred sources. Discussion: While parents often seek
information from friends and family, their preferred sources were health care
professionals including those from outside of the dental profession. Active information
provision from non-oral health professionals such as paediatricians and nurses is
important as they routinely see the child and their parents much earlier than oral
healthcare professionals. Improving knowledge can equip parents with specific strategies
in managing the risk factors associated with ECC. Conclusion: ECC is preventable and
understanding parents’ information seeking behaviour aids in tailoring the method of
delivery to empower them with preventive and coping strategies.

Keywords: Information seeking behaviour, Caries, Interview, Qualitative study

Part of research dissertation (Phase 1) submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor in Clinical Dentistry
(DClinDent) Paediatric Dentistry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) submitted in January 2021.
Virtual oral presentation at the Malaysian Association of Paediatric Dentistry (MAPD) 2021 Virtual Scientific Conference
and Annual General Meeting on 14 March 2021.
Published in Proceeding Book for Faculty of Dentistry UKM Research & Innovation Symposium 2.0 in 2020.

Dr Menaka Devi Ratnasingam* Dr Elavarasi Kuppusamy
Clinical Dental Officer (Paediatric Dentistry) Dr Farinawati Yazid
Sabah State Health Department AP Dr Tanti Irawati Rosli
AP Dr Nagarajan M.P Sockalingam
Dr Adliah Mhd Ali Faculty of Dentistry
Department of Pharmacy Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia
Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
*Postgraduate student from Ministry of Health

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