Mother's Sense of Coherence and Oral Health of Children and Adolescents With Cerebral Palsy-Matched Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The sense of coherence (SOC) is important for the well-being, especially mothers of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Mother's SOC and oral health status in children/adolescents with and without CP.

Methods: A paired cross-sectional study was conducted with 102 children/adolescents with CP, 102 without CP, and their respective mothers. Participants were aged between 3 and 17 years, matched by sex and age. Antonovsky's SOC questionnaire (SOC-13) was answered by mothers from both groups, characteristics and the oral status of the children were investigated. Clinical type of CP, Gross Motor Function (GMFCS), oral hygiene quality (OHI-S), and dental caries experience (DMFT/dmft) were evaluated.

Results: The CP condition of the children was significantly associated with Mother's SOC (P < 0.001). Mothers of children with CP had lower SOC scores (mean: 27.6 [±3.0]) than mothers of children without CP (mean: 30.2 [±7.7]). In the CP group, level IV, V of Gross Motor function was associated with lower mother's SOC scores (p = 0.001). In both groups, dental caries experience was associated with lower mother's SOC scores, CP group (p < 0.001), without CP group (p = 0.002). Regarding the individual characteristics, CP group presented with lower-quality of oral hygiene (p < 0.001) and high prevalence of dental caries (p = 0.001). Regarding marital status, mothers of CP group were majority single, separated, or divorced (p < 0.001), and presented more difficulties in finding a dentist for their child (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Mother's SOC was statistically significantly associated with the presence of dental caries in children/adolescents with and without CP. Mothers of children/adolescents with CP presented with lower values of SOC.