Analysis of gum bleeding among children aged 12-15 years in Jiangxi Province and related influencing factors.

OBJECTIVE

To study the prevalence of gum bleeding in children aged 12-15 years in Jiangxi Province and related influencing factors for the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies.

METHODS

A multistage cluster stratified sampling method was used to select 8,160 children aged 12-15 years for this study. Enrolled children completed a set of survey questionnaires covering children's gender, age, parents' educational level, oral health knowledge scores, attitude scores, and brushing habits in addition of dental examination. All the data were analyzed using the chi-square test and logistic regression.

RESULTS

Among 8,160 children, the gum bleeding rate was 66.5 percent (95% CI: 65.8%-68.1%). The gum bleeding rate in urban children (68.0 percent) was higher than that in rural areas (65.0 percent) (P < 0.01); the gum bleeding rate in boys (67.6 percent) was higher than that in girls (65.4 percent) (P < 0.05). The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that age, urban and rural areas, mother education, knowledge score, attitude score, and brushing frequency were all important factors affecting gum bleeding.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that incidence of gum bleeding in Jiangxi children is high which is affected by their age, mother's education, and several other factors. These new findings form the baseline information essential for the development of more effective approaches to prevent and control children gum bleeding in Jiangxi and other regions in the future.