Exploration of brushing behavior among university students in Iran: a qualitative research

Background Currently, it is estimated that 40% of the Iranian population is less than 20 years old, and in the academic year of 2011-2012 about 4 million students of that age were educated. The general assessment of the outcomes of oral health programs and investigating determinants is substantial for developing future plans of oral health. This study was done with the aim of exploring brushing behavior among university students of Iran to specify and understand the important determinants of oral health behavior. Methods A qualitative research method was used. This study was conducted between August and November 2016 in Shahid Beheshti University. Maximum variation sampling was used among university attendees and 44 students with more than 2 years of study duration were selected to be included in the research. Semi-structured interviews were employed for data gathering. All of the recorded interviews and notes were accurately evaluated and data analysis was performed based on the content analysis. Results As a result of the interview analysis 16 main categories emerged: Religious Beliefs, Perceived Benefits, Perceived Barriers, Habitation, Salience of Behavior, Education, Subjective Norms, Peer Pressure, Observational Learning, Knowledge, Perceived Susceptibility, Perceived Severity, Outcome Expectation, Skills, Perceived Self-efficacy, and Perceived Behavioral Control. Codes of sub-theme and theme were identified in the study. Conclusion This present study provides additional evidence with respect to the religious beliefs and the impact of religious instructions in brushing among students. Salience of brushing behavior has been described as one of the structures in an integrated behavioral model. Despite earlier studies suggesting, that peer pressure only plays a role on children's brushing behavior, our study showed that peer pressure is effective on adults as well.