Hubungan Kebiasaan Orang Tua atau Wali dalam Membersihkan Rongga Mulut terhadap Indeks Plak pada Anak Stunting Usia 2-5 Tahun di Kecamatan Medan Belawan

Abstract

The behavioral pattern of stunted children regarding their oral health is classified as very low, resulting in the plaque index in stunted children being much lower than in well-nourished children. Plaque in stunted children is often considered a normal thing and is not paid much attention by parents because they often think that plaque can easily disappear without needing more attention. This study aims to determine the relationship between parents' habits in cleaning the oral cavity of stunted children aged 2-5 years and changes in plaque index. The type of research carried out was quasi-experimental with a pretest and posttest design. The sampling technique for this research used a purposive sampling technique, data collection was carried out by filling out questionnaires and bullet journals by parents and examining the plaque index on 30 children aged 2-5 years consisting of 15 boys and 15 girls. The variables of this study were tested using the Wilcoxon and Spearman tests. The results of this study show that there is a significant difference between differences in parental knowledge before and after education (p = 0.000), a significant difference between parental behavior before and after providing education (p = 0.000) and a significant difference between plaque index before and after providing education (p = 0.000). The results of the Spearman correlation test showed that there was a weak relationship between knowledge and the plaque index obtained (p = 0.524) and there was a moderate relationship between behavior and the plaque index obtained for stunted children (p = 0.031).