The aim was to investigate changes in dental fear and anxiety (DFA) and verify factors associated with DFA in children. A longitudinal cohort study that included 160 children aged 7 years was carried out. A questionnaire was completed by parents at two time points and evaluated the immigrant background, maternal education, whether the child had ever had toothache, and whether the parents had dental fear. The oral clinical examination evaluated decayed, extracted, and filled primary teeth (deft). The children’s fear survey schedule dental subscale (CFSS-DS) was used to assess the dental fear of the children. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions analyses were used. The CFSS-DS found that 7% of the children had dental fear at age 7 and mean CFSS-DS was 22.9. At 9 years of age, 8% reported dental fear and the mean increased to 25.4. Parental dental fear, experience of toothache, and report of painful dental treatment and caries development between 7 and 9 years of age were factors that were significantly related to development of DFA. There was a change in DFA between 7 and 9 years of age. Dental fear and anxiety is a dynamic process in growing individuals and is significantly related to painful symptoms and experiences of dental care as well as parental dental fear.

Maternal health during pregnancy plays a part in child health, and several conditions have been associated with adverse child outcomes. To determine the socioeconomic determinants and maternal health factors associated with dental caries in young children. This cross-sectional study is part of a register-based cohort study including all children who were born from 2000 to 2003 and were residing in Stockholm County, Sweden, at age 3 y (n = 73,658). The study followed the cohort until individuals were 7 y old. The final study cohort comprised all children examined at 3 and 7 y (n = 65,259). Data on socioeconomic conditions, maternal health, and maternal health behavior were extracted from Swedish national registries. The multivariate analyses used 2 outcomes: caries experience at age 3 and 7 y (deft > 0 [decayed, extracted, and filled teeth]). The results of this study show that socioeconomic and maternal health behaviors during pregnancy are important determinants of oral health in their preschool offspring. When all significant risk factors were present, the cumulative probability of being diagnosed with dental caries at age 7 y was 75%. This study also showed that maternal obesity and smoking during pregnancy were predictors of dental caries in preschool children. Strategies must be developed for increasing maternal motivation and self-efficacy and providing mothers with knowledge and caries-preventive tools. The results of this study inform clinicians about the importance of including a more detailed history regarding maternal health and maternal health behaviors during pregnancy to assess caries risk in preschool children. Education, income, and other socioeconomic factors are difficult to modify in the short term. Therefore, strategies must be developed to increase parental motivation and self-efficacy to give parents the determination, knowledge, and tools for prevention.

Resumo: No Brasil, a atividade física é eixo prioritário das ações de promoção da saúde no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). O presente estudo tem como objetivo descrever o perfil dos usuários, as barreiras e os facilitadores para participação em programas para promoção de atividades físicas na atenção básica à saúde. Trata-se de um estudo transversal com abrangência estadual realizado nos municípios de Pernambuco. Foram entrevistados de 2 a 21 indivíduos, por município, por meio de instrumento previamente testado e validado nas dimensões: sociodemográfica; estado de saúde; participação; informações sobre o programa; motivos de participação; facilitadores para a prática; barreiras para a prática e preferência de atividades. Foram realizadas análises descritivas e inferenciais (qui-quadrado). A amostra foi de 1.153 usuários, sendo 35,9% com idade entre 41-59 anos; 90,1% residentes em áreas urbanas; 58,2% dos usuários participavam das atividades há, pelo menos, um ano. A frequência semanal de 3-4 dias foi de 44,9%, e 71,1% praticavam atividades de uma hora ou mais. Observou-se que 40% das barreiras para a participação nos programas de atividade física e 77,5% dos facilitadores relatados foram de domínio intrapessoal. A barreira mais prevalente foi “condição atual de saúde”, e o facilitador foi “ter uma condição melhor de saúde”. As mulheres percebem mais barreiras do que os homens. Conclui-se que as barreiras e os facilitadores de domínio intrapessoal, relacionados com a saúde, são os fatores envolvidos na manutenção e no engajamento dos usuários dos programas e intervenções para promoção da atividade física desenvolvidos pela atenção básica à saúde do Estado de Pernambuco.