@article{ref1,
title="The correlation between oral self-harm and ethnicity in institutionalized children",
journal="Children (Basel, Switzerland)",
year="2021",
author="Stoica, Alexandra Mihaela and Stoica, Oana Elena and Vlad, Ramona Elena and Pop, Anca Maria and Monea, Monica",
volume="8",
number="1",
pages="e2-e2",
abstract="Oral self-harm was described in institutionalized children who share a lack of emotional attention; frequently these children experience feelings such as neglect,  loneliness, isolation or lack of connection with the world. The aim of our paper was  to conduct a cross-sectional study in order to assess the prevalence of this  behavior and its correlation with ethnicity among children from three institutions  located in the central part of Romania. We examined 116 children from three ethnic  groups, Romanians, Hungarians and local Roma population aged between 10-14 years  old. The oral soft tissues were evaluated by one dentist who recorded the lesions of  lips, buccal mucosa, commissures and tongue; data were statistically analyzed at a  level of significance of p < 0.05. We found oral self-harm lesions in 18.1%  participants, with statistically significant higher odds in girls (p = 0.03). The  results showed an association between ethnicity and the development of these lesions  (Chi-square p = 0.04). The most frequent lesions were located at oral commissures  (35.48%), buccal mucosa (29.03%) and upper lip (19.36%). Oral self-harm lesions have  a high incidence among institutionalized children in Romania. Identification of  these cases in early stages is important, as these conditions are known to be  aggravated during adolescence and adulthood.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2227-9067",
doi="10.3390/children8010002",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children8010002"
}