Development of an oral health outcome measure for children aged 6 to 14 years.

摘要

The impact that oral and orofacial conditions have on the well-being of children has not been studied as no adequate measure is available. The research was undertaken to design the Child Oral Health Quality of Life Questionnaire (COHQoL) to assess the oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of 6–14-year-old children and their families. It was planned to consist of a Parental Perceptions Questionnaire (PPQ), a Family Impact Scale (FIS), and Child Perceptions Questionnaires for 6–7- (CPQ_6–7); 8–10- (CPQ_8–10), and 11–14-year-olds (CPQ _11–14).; This thesis reports on the development of the PPQ and the CPQ_11–14 and testing of their discriminative properties. It also explores the adequacy of parents as information providers in paediatric health outcome research by examining the relationship between the PPQ and the CPQ_11–14 reports and the extent, nature and predictors of “Don't know” responses given by parents.; The PPQ and the CPQ_11–14 were constructed according to the process derived from the theory of measurement and scale development. Preliminary item pools were developed through reviews of relevant literature and interviews with health professionals (n = 17), parents (n = 33) and children (n = 11). The items rated the most frequent and bothersome by parents (n = 208) and children (n = 83) were selected for the questionnaires. Construct validity testing involved 231 parents and 123 children, of whom 79 and 65 provided data for the assessment of test-retest reliability of the respective questionnaires.; Both questionnaires demonstrated satisfactory validity and reliability. There were no systematic differences between mothers and their children at the group level. However, there was a substantial disagreement at the individual level and some parents exhibited limited knowledge, particularly with respect to emotional and social consequences. Therefore, the studies indicated that data should be obtained from children whenever this is possible and that parents should be used as classic ‘proxies’ only when children are unable to report on their OHRQoL.; As the PPQ and the CPQ_11–14 have been tested on clinical child populations, their validity and reliability have to be demonstrated in non-clinical settings for their use in surveys of general child populations. Their application in intervention studies requires that their evaluative properties (longitudinal construct validity and responsiveness) are established.