Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Approbation of Q-methodology to Evaluate Parents Attitudes for Demand of Orthodontic Treatment

Yulia Peeva, Maria Stoykova, Hristo Yankovski, Iliya Peev

Objectives: The aim of the present study is to assess certain subjective factors for orthodontic treatment with Q-methodology. Study design: Prospective cohort study. Materials and methods: The two-phase method of Stein has been used in order to calculate the number of parents. At the first stage, we have used a sample of 50 parents, set the standard deviation (SD) based on age and standard error (SE) with quality variables. At the second stage, a formula has been applied to calculate the number of observations, P (u)=0.95, Sx=6.35 and Δ=1.214. Parents have been studied for awareness and motivation for orthodontic treatment. A crosssectional study has been provided for the same purpose as sociological investigation. Results: By the parents opinion, the most important reason is aesthetics and here their expectations from the outcomes are very high, rxy=0.92 (P=0.000). The importance of social environment for the need of orthodontic treatment is higher for parents than for children, P<0.05. The factor "Choice through informed consent" shows greater awareness in those who have got previous orthodontic experience, rxy=0.79 (P=0.000). They have found the decision for treatment more important than the children have found it and this fact has determined their motivation. Conclusions: The following four factors have been outlined by Q-methodology to determine the motivation of the parents: • "Aesthetics and a conscious need" • "Positive attitudes" • "The choice through informed consent" • "The importance of social environment"