An ecological study on the association between early childhood caries and intimate partner violence in 20 low- and middle-income countries: 2007-2017

Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan; Mary O Obiyan; Maha El Tantawi; Arthur Kemoli; Ola B Al-Batayneh; Balgis Gaffar; Robert J Schroth; Early Childhood Caries Advocacy Group

doi:10.12688/aasopenres.13237.3

An ecological study on the association between early childhood caries and intimate partner violence in 20 low- and middle-income countries: 2007-2017

AAS Open Res. 2022 Feb 18:4:39. doi: 10.12688/aasopenres.13237.3. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan¹, Mary O Obiyan², Maha El Tantawi³, Arthur Kemoli⁴, Ola B Al-Batayneh⁵, Balgis Gaffar⁶, Robert J Schroth⁷; Early Childhood Caries Advocacy Group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child Dental Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, 22005, Nigeria.
² Department of Demography, Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, 22005, Nigeria.
³ Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁴ Department Paediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁵ Department of Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
⁶ Preventive Dental Sciences Department, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ 7Department of Preventive Dental Science, Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Women are the worst affected by intimate partner violence (IPV), and this impacts negatively on the health of the children they care for. This study aimed to determine the associations between IPV and the prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) in 3-5-year-olds. Methods: This was an ecological study using IPV (physical, sexual, emotional) data extracted from the Demographic Health Survey of 20 low- and middle-income countries and ECC data for 3-5-year-olds of the same countries for the period 2007-2017. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between the percentage of 3-5-year-olds with ECC (outcome variable) and IPV indicators (physical, sexual, emotional). The model was adjusted for the country's gross national income and the percentage of women with secondary or higher education. Partial eta squared (ηp ²), regression coefficients, confidence intervals and p-values were calculated. Results: Data on ECC in 3-5-year-olds and IPV were available for six low-income-countries, 10 lower-middle-income-countries and four upper-middle-income-countries. The most prevalent form of IPV was physical violence (10.09%). The Democratic Republic of Congo had the highest prevalence of physical violence (45.8%), sexual violence (25.4%), and ECC (80.0%). The strongest association was between the prevalence of ECC and emotional violence (ηp ²=0.01), followed by physical violence (ηp ²=0.005), and sexual violence (ηp ²=0.003). For every 1% higher prevalence of emotional violence, there was 0.28% higher prevalence of ECC, and for every 1% higher percentage of physical violence, there was 0.21% higher prevalence of ECC. On the contrary, for every 1% higher prevalence of sexual violence, there was 0.35% lower prevalence of ECC prevalence. Conclusions: Emotional and sexual violence where the two types of IPV associated with the prevalence of ECC. The associations were minor and the directions of their effects were difference. These findings need to be studied further.

Keywords: Physical violence; Sexual violence; Emotional violence; Early childhood caries; Global; Gross National Income.

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.15000324.v1