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

Changes in Children’s Oral Health Related Quality of Life Following Dental Treatment under General Anesthesia

Background: Children′s oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) evaluates the impacts of oral daily activities of children and family on quality of life. Oral health related quality of life as outcome can be used to evaluate the dental health services. This study aimed to assess the extent to which den-tal treatment under general anesthesia affects quality of life of children and their families. Methods: One hundred parents of 3-10 year-old children who needed dental treatment under general anesthesia completed a parent-children perception questionnaire (P-CPQ) and family impact scale (FIS) before, and 4 weeks after dental treatment under general anesthesia. The questionnaire had statements related to oral health, functional limitation, emotional state and well being social well-being and family issues. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 11.5. Results: The mean scores and standard deviations of oral health quality of life of the children before and after dental treatment were 43.3 ± 7.14 and 39.24 ± 5.47 respectively. The mean scores of FIS before and after dental treatment were 8.00 ± 3.21 and 3.66 ± 2.62, respectively. The effect size of mean differences in P-CPQ and FIS scores were 1.84 ± 1.64 and 1.35 ± 4.34, respectively. Conclusion: Provision of dental treatment under general anesthesia for uncooperative, young chil-dren with extensive dental problems had significant effects on quality of life of both children and their families

Assessment of Isfahan Dentistry students about Learning - Teaching Environment

Introduction: Teaching and learning conditions & environment are crucial elements in acquiring skills and abilities during students’ education and also providing them with a satisfactory professional future. The purpose of this study was to assess teaching and learning environment in different sections of Isfahan dentistry school from the viewpoint of dentistry students. Methods: DREEM questionnaire was translated into Persian by two academic members and its validity and reliability were confirmed in a pilot study. The questionnaires were filled by second-sixth year students who had experienced the practical and theoretical courses in eleven clinical wards in Isfahan dentistry school at least twice. The data collected by 138 questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS. Results: Total and mean scores of questionnaire in all wards were 99.75 and 1.99 respectively. Mean scores of questionnaire in 11 studied wards were 1.76- 2.90. Conclusion: Based on the obtained mean scores, the positive aspects of educational environment in surgical, internship, radiology, reconstructive and periodontology wards are less than the negative ones. In all wards, there is a significant gap between the present condition and standards so that educational environment needs to be improved