Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 228 Brauer Hall, CB#7450, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7450, USA.
J Am Dent Assoc. 2012 Nov;143(11):1237-47. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.2012.0071.
Caregivers' perceptions of their young children's oral health status (OHS) are a strong determinant of whether the children visit a dentist. Our aims were to quantify the correlation between caregivers' assessments and their children's clinically determined restorative treatment needs, while investigating factors related to this association.
One hundred eight caregivers assessed their children's OHS by answering a question on the self-reported National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III instrument. Children underwent clinical oral examinations at one of two study sites of the Carolina Oral Health Literacy Project: a dental school-based clinic and a community-based health clinic. Examiners recorded the children's clinical treatment needs by using a modification of the caries severity index. The authors quantified concordance between the two measures with use of the Spearman rank correlation (ρ) and Kendall τ rank correlation, whereas they assessed differences in sociodemographic factors and oral health literacy (OHL) levels by using a homogeneity χ(2) test (P < .2 criterion).
The concordance between caregivers' assessments and clinically determined OHS was lower for younger children (< 2 years, ρ = 0.29 versus = 2 years, ρ = 0.63 [homogeneity P = .03]), a pattern that was evident in the community clinic but not in the university clinic. Caregivers' age, education and OHL did not influence the accuracy of self-reports.
For children younger than 2 years, caregivers' assessments correlated poorly with clinical needs, which routinely were underestimated. Practice Implications. These findings underscore the importance of preventive dental visits at a young age and the early establishment of a dental home.
照顾者对其年幼子女口腔健康状况（OHS）的认知是决定子女是否看牙医的一个重要因素。我们的目的是量化照顾者评估与儿童临床确定的修复治疗需求之间的相关性，并调查与这种关联相关的因素。
108 名照顾者通过回答自我报告的国家健康和营养检查调查 III 仪器上的一个问题来评估他们孩子的 OHS。儿童在卡罗来纳口腔健康素养项目的两个研究地点之一的牙科诊所和社区诊所接受临床口腔检查。检查者通过使用龋病严重程度指数的修改版记录儿童的临床治疗需求。作者使用 Spearman 秩相关系数（ρ）和 Kendall τ秩相关系数来量化两种测量方法之间的一致性，同时使用同质性 χ²检验（P <.2 标准）评估社会人口因素和口腔健康素养（OHL）水平的差异。
在年龄较小的儿童（<2 岁，ρ=0.29 与 =2 岁，ρ=0.63 [同质性 P=.03]）中，照顾者评估与临床确定的 OHS 之间的一致性较低，这种模式在社区诊所中明显，但在大学诊所中不明显。照顾者的年龄、教育程度和 OHL 并不影响自我报告的准确性。
对于年龄小于 2 岁的儿童，照顾者的评估与临床需求相关性较差，通常被低估。实践意义。这些发现强调了在年幼时进行预防性牙科就诊和早期建立牙科之家的重要性。
