APPLICATION OF THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR TO ORAL HYGIENE BEHAVIORAL INTENTION AND ITS PREDICTORS AMONG PREPARATORYSCHOOL STUDENTSINGONDARCITY, NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MEDELING ANALYSIS

Abstract

Abstract Background:Oral hygiene behavior is very lowamong school children in Ethiopia. According to TPB, intention is the immediate determinant of oral hygiene behavior. However,student’s intention to oral hygiene behavior is not well-studied in the country. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the level and predictors of intention to oral hygiene behavior and the predictive utility of theory of planned behavior among preparatory school students in Gondar city, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study design was employed among 403preparatory school students of Gondar city from March 5 -13, 2020. Stratified multi stage simple random sampling was used to select participants. Data was collected through pretested self-administered structured questionnaire. Data was entered into EpiData version 4.6 and transferred in to SPSS version 26and AMOS version 23for further analysis. Descriptive analysis, correlations, independent ttest, and structural equation modelling analysis (SEM) were employed toconfirm relationships and association among TPB variables.P-value less than 0.05 were used to determine statistical significance. Result:A total of 403 students involved with a response rate of 97.5% (393).The mean age of the participants was 18 (±1.3) with age range of 16 to 24.More than half(54%) of the participants were females.The median (inter-quartile range) intention was 5.75 (4.5-7). Theory of planned behavior was well fitted to the data and explained 66% of the variance in intention. Direct attitude (? = 0.38), direct subjective norm (? = 0.33) and direct perceived behavioral control (? = 29) were significant predictors of intention where direct attitude was emerged as the strongest predictor, (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Oral hygiene behavioural intentionwas substantially high. Both direct and indirect TPB variables significantly predicted intentionandattitude was the strongest predictor. Theory of planned behavior was adequate in predicting oral hygiene behavioral intention. Hence,school oral hygiene interventions shouldgive due emphasis toattitudinal changes though focusing on subjective norm and perceived behavioral control changes isalso important. Moreover,TPB can be used to guide researches in the area of interest. Key words: Intention, Oral hygiene behavior, Theory of planned behavior, SEM, Gondar, Ethiopia