Journal Article

Oral health knowledge and practices of women with children who are internally displaced, refugees, and migrants in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Zuñiga, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño, Abdullahi, Mohammed, Ochang, Ernest, Arije, Olujide, Amusan, Oluwaranmilowo, Undelikwo, Veronica Akwenabuaye, Foláyan, Moréniké Oluwátóyìn, Undelikwo, Gabriel, Banke, Abel Ebe, Zekeng, Leopold Achengui, Koubagnine, Takpa, Adelekan, Babatunde, Jajere, Fatimah, Anya, Samuel Emetu

2025

Overview

Background Little is known about the oral health profile of forcibly displaced persons (internally displaced persons (IDPs), and refugees), and migrants in Nigeria, despite being one of the largest communities of people with humanitarian service needs in the world. This study assessed the associations between dental caries prevention knowledge, self-care dental caries preventive practices, and dental caries prevention knowledge among IDPs, refugees, and migrants in Nigeria. Methods This was a secondary analysis of the data of a cross-sectional study conducted in five states in Nigeria—Borno, Taraba, Yobe, Cross River, and Benue— with large populations of refugees, IDPs, and migrants in December 2024. The data of 1554 women (IDPs: 690; migrants: 281; and refugees: 583) who had children in their care were extracted for this study. The data extracted were the dependent variables (knowledge of dental caries prevention, daily use of fluoridated toothpaste, daily tooth brushing frequency, and daily frequency of consumption of refined carbohydrates between meals), the confounding variables (educational level, current marital status, and age at last birthday), and the independent variables (IDPs, refugees, and migrants’ status). Multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine the associations between the dependent and independent variables after adjusting for the confounders. Results Both IDPs (AOR: 3.68, p  < 0.001) and migrants (AOR: 3.89, p  < 0.001) had significantly higher odds of good dental caries prevention knowledge compared to refugees. On the other hand, IDPs (AOR = 0.22, p  < 0.001) and migrants (AOR: 0.56, p  < 0.001) were less likely to brush twice daily than refugees. of daily use of fluoride-containing toothpaste every time or almost every time than refugees, but the difference was not statistically significant. On the converse, both IDPs and migrants had lower odds of consumption of refined carbohydrates in-between-meals daily, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion Although IDPs and migrants demonstrated better knowledge of dental caries prevention compared to refugees, they seemed less likely than refugees to brush twice daily. This highlights a disconnect between knowledge and practices in displacement settings. Studies are needed to explore contextual drivers of dental caries preventive knowledge and practices among IDPs, migrants, and refugees.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / Adult / Analysis / Carbohydrates / Care and treatment / Community / Cross-Sectional Studies / Data collection / Demographic aspects / Dental care / Dental caries / Dental Caries - prevention & control / Dental hygiene / Dental insurance / Dentifrices / Dentistry / Displaced persons / Displacement and health / Female / Females / Field study / Gender / Health aspects / Health care access / Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Health services / Health surveys / Humanitarian settings / Humanitarianism / Humans / Internally displaced persons / Knowledge / Medicine / Middle Aged / Mouth / Nigeria / Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery / Oral Health / Oral health inequities / Oral hygiene / Peers / Population / Prevention / Preventive dentistry / Public health dentistry / Questionnaires / Refugees / Refugees - psychology / Refugees - statistics & numerical data / Regression analysis / Sample size / Social aspects / Statistical analysis / Toothbrushing / Toothbrushing - statistics & numerical data / Toothpaste / Transients and Migrants - psychology / Transients and Migrants - statistics & numerical data / Vulnerable populations / Womens health / Young Adult