Sources of Oral Health Activities Among Croatian University Students—A Pilot Study

Background: This cross-sectional designed study aimed to identify the sources of oral health activities (OHA) by introducing a new OHA sources questionnaire (OHAQ-S). Methods: The OHAQ-S was developed from a sample of 658 university students and included measurements from nine sources: scales for parents, Dental medical doctors (DMDs), and primary school sources, as well as single-item measures for other sources. Using QHAQ-S measures, gender differences, determinants of OH activities, and differences between OH types were analysed. Results: Gender differences were observed in five OH sources (university, high school, self-learning, friends, and kindergarten). In both female and male subsamples, primary sources such as parents and DMD predicted overall OH activities, though with different secondary sources. In the female subsample, some differences in OHAQ-S sources appeared between the four OH types. The excellent OH type most notably differed from others by having higher reported incidence of self-learning—dental floss usage and DMD sources—and marginally higher reported use of university and parental sources. In the male subsample, multiple differences in OHAQ-S sources were fou