IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH EDUCATION ON DENTAL CARIES PREVENTION IN CHILDREN: A META-ANALYSIS WITH INSIGHTS FOR SPORTS AND HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of psychological health education in reducing the prevalence of dental caries among children, with implications for improving health education strategies in sports and physical activity programs. Methods: Relevant studies were retrieved from Chinese and English databases, including Wanfang, CNKI, VIP, Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central. Eligible articles focusing on the impact of psychological health education on childhood dental caries were selected. A meta-analysis was conducted using RevMan 5.3 software after quality assessment of the included studies. Results: The meta-analysis included nine articles comprising 3,357 children, with 1,505 receiving psychological health education and 1,852 serving as controls. Psychological health education significantly reduced the prevalence of dental caries (OR=0.51, 95% CI=0.33 to 0.79, P=0.002) and improved the decayed, missing, and filled teeth index (MD=-0.72, 95% CI=-1.14 to -0.30, P<0.001). Additionally, children receiving psychological health education showed better compliance during oral examinations (OR=3.43, 95% CI=1.21 to 9.68, P=0.02). Conclusion: Psychological health education effectively reduces the prevalence of dental caries, improves oral health indices, and enhances children's compliance during dental examinations. Integrating psychological health education into school-based and sports-related health programs can promote better oral hygiene, supporting overall health and well-being in children involved in active lifestyles.