Aim:Health Promoting Schools teaches students about knowledge, attitudes and values that guide them to make health-orien- ted choices. This project aimed to test the effectiveness of a multimedia game designed for elementary school children to teach basic concepts of oral health and use the instrument to identify students’ knowledge.Methods:A specially designed multimedia game on oral health was administered in computer classes, before (T0) and after (T1) an educational stage, to 1300 third (8-9 years) and fifth graders (10-11 years) of elementary schools in two provinces of medium-small cities in Central Italy (Terni and Latina). The test was anonymous and there was no need for ethical approval. Informed parental consent was collected before the first administration. The schools included urban and rural areas of the two provinces. The statistical test used was the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed- rank test. Results:Response rate was 90.6% (due to absence on the game administration date). Of 1300 students tested the average percentage of the correct answers was 40.7% before oral health lessons and 59.2% afterwards. On the whole there was an improving trend of correct answers from T0 to T1, which was significant (p < 0.05). Best results were for fifth graders (+ 17.5%), extended school time schedulers (+18.1%) and females (+18.9%). However, the results show poor overall Oral Health knowledge, the total of correct answers achieved was below 60%. These data are even more worrying, given the simplicity of the questions. Conclusions: The school has proved an ideal environment for this oral health promotion project, both for the catchment area, and for efficiency and speed of child population screening. The results stress the importance of the school environment for access to health services for all socio- economic classes. Creating a game with multimedia features has proved a valuable tool to attract the attention of children in an era where technology influences mass communication.
Health Promoting Schools, Oral Health Multimedia Project in primary schools in Italy / Marchionne, M.; Vozza, Iole; Guerra, Fabrizio; Nofroni, Italo; Ottolenghi, Livia. - In: ANNALI DI STOMATOLOGIA. - ISSN 1971-1441. - II (Suppl. 1-2):(2011), pp. 42-42. (Intervento presentato al convegno European Association of Dental Public Health - 16 th Annual Meeting tenutosi a Rome nel 22-24 September 2011).
Health Promoting Schools, Oral Health Multimedia Project in primary schools in Italy
VOZZA, Iole;GUERRA, Fabrizio;NOFRONI, Italo;OTTOLENGHI, Livia
2011
Abstract
Aim:Health Promoting Schools teaches students about knowledge, attitudes and values that guide them to make health-orien- ted choices. This project aimed to test the effectiveness of a multimedia game designed for elementary school children to teach basic concepts of oral health and use the instrument to identify students’ knowledge.Methods:A specially designed multimedia game on oral health was administered in computer classes, before (T0) and after (T1) an educational stage, to 1300 third (8-9 years) and fifth graders (10-11 years) of elementary schools in two provinces of medium-small cities in Central Italy (Terni and Latina). The test was anonymous and there was no need for ethical approval. Informed parental consent was collected before the first administration. The schools included urban and rural areas of the two provinces. The statistical test used was the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed- rank test. Results:Response rate was 90.6% (due to absence on the game administration date). Of 1300 students tested the average percentage of the correct answers was 40.7% before oral health lessons and 59.2% afterwards. On the whole there was an improving trend of correct answers from T0 to T1, which was significant (p < 0.05). Best results were for fifth graders (+ 17.5%), extended school time schedulers (+18.1%) and females (+18.9%). However, the results show poor overall Oral Health knowledge, the total of correct answers achieved was below 60%. These data are even more worrying, given the simplicity of the questions. Conclusions: The school has proved an ideal environment for this oral health promotion project, both for the catchment area, and for efficiency and speed of child population screening. The results stress the importance of the school environment for access to health services for all socio- economic classes. Creating a game with multimedia features has proved a valuable tool to attract the attention of children in an era where technology influences mass communication.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
