Age- and education-adjusted normative data for the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT)

p. 473-480The original Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) suggests a cutof global score of 10 points. However, this limit may be too stringent for older adults attending memory training programs, particularly for those with low education levels. This study aims to provide appropriately adjusted age and education norms for the RBMT. Data from 711 subjects were grouped based on age (65–67, 68–71, 72–75 and 76–83) and education level (primary school, high school and university studies). The data exhibit a clear trend of scores decreasing with age. The diminution in scores does not reach trend levels of signifcance between neighboring (<5 years) age intervals, but it is statistically signifcant at the designated alpha level (p=.05) when younger and older adults are compared over a range of 5 years of diference. 81.86% of our sample has global scores below the suggested cutof of 10 points. The present study provides a more accurate representation of RBMT global score performance in older adults for specifc age and education stratifcations.S

Cognitive interviewing methodology in the development of a pediatric item bank: a patient reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evaluation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in health care has seen greater use in recent years, and methods to improve the reliability and validity of PRO instruments are advancing. This paper discusses the cognitive interviewing procedures employed by the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatrics group for the purpose of developing a dynamic, electronic item bank for field testing with children and adolescents using novel computer technology. The primary objective of this study was to conduct cognitive interviews with children and adolescents to gain feedback on items measuring physical functioning, emotional health, social health, fatigue, pain, and asthma-specific symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 88 cognitive interviews were conducted with 77 children and adolescents across two sites on 318 items. From this initial item bank, 25 items were deleted and 35 were revised and underwent a second round of cognitive interviews. A total of 293 items were retained for field testing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Children as young as 8 years of age were able to comprehend the majority of items, response options, directions, recall period, and identify problems with language that was difficult for them to understand. Cognitive interviews indicated issues with item comprehension on several items which led to alternative wording for these items.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Children ages 8–17 years were able to comprehend most item stems and response options in the present study. Field testing with the resulting items and response options is presently being conducted as part of the PROMIS Pediatric Item Bank development process.</p

Cognitive interviewing methodology in the development of a pediatric item bank: a patient reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evaluation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in health care has seen greater use in recent years, and methods to improve the reliability and validity of PRO instruments are advancing. This paper discusses the cognitive interviewing procedures employed by the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatrics group for the purpose of developing a dynamic, electronic item bank for field testing with children and adolescents using novel computer technology. The primary objective of this study was to conduct cognitive interviews with children and adolescents to gain feedback on items measuring physical functioning, emotional health, social health, fatigue, pain, and asthma-specific symptoms.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 88 cognitive interviews were conducted with 77 children and adolescents across two sites on 318 items. From this initial item bank, 25 items were deleted and 35 were revised and underwent a second round of cognitive interviews. A total of 293 items were retained for field testing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Children as young as 8 years of age were able to comprehend the majority of items, response options, directions, recall period, and identify problems with language that was difficult for them to understand. Cognitive interviews indicated issues with item comprehension on several items which led to alternative wording for these items.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Children ages 8–17 years were able to comprehend most item stems and response options in the present study. Field testing with the resulting items and response options is presently being conducted as part of the PROMIS Pediatric Item Bank development process.</p

Parental perceptions of children's oral health: The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS)

BACKGROUND: Dental disease and treatment experience can negatively affect the oral health related quality of life (OHRQL) of preschool aged children and their caregivers. Currently no valid and reliable instrument is available to measure these negative influences in very young children. The objective of this research was to develop the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) to measure the OHRQL of preschool children and their families. METHODS: Twenty-two health professionals evaluated a pool of 45 items that assess the impact of oral health problems on 6-14-year-old children and their families. The health professionals identified 36 items as relevant to preschool children. Thirty parents rated the importance of these 36 items to preschool children; 13 (9 child and 4 family) items were considered important. The 13-item ECOHIS was administered to 295 parents of 5-year-old children to assess construct validity and internal consistency reliability (using Cronbach's alpha). Test-retest reliability was evaluated among another sample of parents (N = 46) using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: ECOHIS scores on the child and parent sections indicating worse quality of life were significantly associated with fair or poor parental ratings of their child's general and oral health, and the presence of dental disease in the child. Cronbach's alphas for the child and family sections were 0.91 and 0.95 respectively, and the ICC for test-retest reliability was 0.84. CONCLUSION: The ECOHIS performed well in assessing OHRQL among children and their families. Studies in other populations are needed to further establish the instrument's technical properties

Validation of a Farsi version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (F-ECOHIS)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) has recently been developed to assess oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of pre-school children in English speaking communities. This study aimed to translate the ECOHIS into Farsi and test its psychometric properties for use on 2- to 5-year-old children of Farsi speaking Iranian families.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>EHOHIS questionnaire was translated into Farsi using a standardized forward-backward linguistic translation method. Its face and content validity was tested in two small pilot studies. In the main study, a convenience sample of 260 parents of 2- to 5-year-old children in Isfahan and Tehran were invited to complete the final Farsi version of the ECOHIS (F-ECOHIS) and answer two global self-rating questions about their children's dental appearance and oral health. Association between F-ECOHIS scores and answers to the two self-rating questions, and the correlation between child (9 items) and family (4 items) sections of the F-ECOHIS were used to assess the concurrent and convergent validity of the questionnaire. Internal consistency reliability of the F-ECOHIS was tested using Cronbach's alpha coefficient test and item total and inter-item correlations. One third of participants were invited to complete the F-ECOHIS again after 2 weeks to evaluate the test-retest reliability of the questionnaire.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred and forty six parents were included in the main study. The association between the F-ECOHIS scores and the two self-rating questions and the correlation between its child and family sections were significant (P < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the F-ECOHIS and its child and family sections were 0.93, 0.89, and 0.85 respectively. Coefficients did not increase by deleting any item. The corrected item total correlation coefficient ranged from 0.52 to 0.74. The inter-item correlation coefficient ranged between 0.30 and 0.73. Seventy three parents participated in the follow up study for re-testing the questionnaire. Comparison of their test and re-test scores had a weighted kappa of 0.81 and inter-class correlation (ICC) of 0.82.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The F-ECOHIS questionnaire was valid and reliable for assessing the OHRQoL of 2- to 5-year-old pre-school children of Farsi speaking parents.</p

Attention Performance in an Epidemiological Sample of Urban Children: The Role of Gender and Verbal Intelligence

We administered a comprehensive attentional battery to an epidemiologically defined sample of 435 first and second-grade children to assess the influence of gender and verbal intelligence on attention. The battery included three versions of the continuous performance test (CPT), two digit cancellation tasks, three subtests from the WISC-R, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. The results indicated that both gender and intelligence had an impact on attentional performance. Girls performed better than boys; they made fewer errors on the CPT and obtained higher scores on the digit cancellation task and the Coding subtest of the WISC-R. Children with higher verbal intelligence also performed better on the attentional tests, but this advantage was not observed across measures or levels of performance. For example, children with limited verbal skills performed significantly worse than their peers only in measures with high processing demands(the degraded CPT and the distraction version of the digit cancellation task)

Prevalence and correlates of self-reported state of teeth among schoolchildren in Kerala, India

BACKGROUND: Oral health status in India is traditionally evaluated using clinical indices. There is growing interest to know how subjective measures relate to outcomes of oral health. The aims of the study were to assess the prevalence and correlates of self-reported state of teeth in 12-year-old schoolchildren in Kerala, India. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey data were used. The sample consisted of 838 12-year-old schoolchildren. Data was collected using clinical examination and questionnaire. The clinical oral health status was recorded using Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth (DMFT) and Oral Hygiene Index – Simplified (OHI-S). The questionnaire included questions on sociodemographics, self reports of behaviour, knowledge and oral problems and a single-item measuring self-reported state and satisfaction with appearance of teeth. The Kappa values for test-retest of the questionnaire ranged from 0.55 to 0.97. RESULTS: Twenty-three per cent of the schoolchildren reported the state of teeth as bad. Multivariate logistic regression showed significant associations between schoolchildren who reported to have bad teeth and poor school performance (Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.5), having bad breath (OR = 2.4), food impaction (OR = 1.7) dental visits (OR = 1.6), being dissatisfied with appearance of teeth (OR = 4.2) and caries experience (OR = 1.7). The explained variance was highest when the variables dental visits, bleeding gums, bad breath, food impaction and satisfaction with appearance were introduced into the model (19%). CONCLUSION: A quarter of 12-year-olds reported having bad teeth. The self-reported bad state of teeth was associated with poor school performance, having bad breath and food impaction, having visited a dentist, being dissatisfied with teeth appearance and having caries experience. Information from self-reports of children might help in planning effective strategies to promote oral health