Effectiveness of tailored oral health education mode based on the learning styles in children aged 10-12 years: An interventional study.

BACKGROUND

Tailored oral-health education programs based on an individual's learning style can improve knowledge and oral health outcomes.

AIM: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of tailored oral-health education modes on oral health-related knowledge in children aged 10-12 years.

METHODS

One hundred and fifty-two children were categorized into visual, auditory, and tactile learners based on the University of California Learning Style Questionnaire (2006). Twenty children were randomly selected from each group. Tailored oral health education was delivered using: visual mode for dental trauma, auditory mode for dental caries, and tactile mode for tooth brushing. Oral health-related knowledge scores were assessed at baseline, immediately after intervention, and 1-week after intervention. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparison of knowledge scores, followed by post hoc analysis using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test with significance at P ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

Out of 152 children, 61 (40.1%) were identified as visual learners, 37 (24.3%) as auditory learners, and 28 (18.4%) as tactile learners. Visual learners exhibited a significant increase in knowledge scores in visual mode ( P < 0.001) and auditory mode ( P = 0.050). Auditory learners showed a statistically significant increase in scores in all three modes (auditory P < 0.001; visual P = 0.009; tactile P = 0.015). Tactile learners demonstrated a significant increase in scores in visual mode ( P = 0.029) and auditory mode ( P = 0.042).

CONCLUSION

Visual was the most common learning style, followed by auditory and tactile. Visual learners performed best in visual methods, while auditory learners showed significant improvement in all modes. Understanding an individual's learning style helps in delivering tailor-made education strategies, making learning more engaging and effective.