Treatment of children with oral and oro-facial conditions is based on broadly accepted standards tied to the evaluation of clinical parameters. However, little is known about treatment success - whether the desired clinical outcomes related to treatment are achieved or whether patients are satisfied with their treatment outcomes. Research in this area is limited by a lack of valid, reliable and culturally sensitive instruments to assess perceived outcomes of care for children and their families. To address this deficiency, the study will develop a culturally sensitive instrument, the Child Oral and Oro-Facial Questionnaire (COOFQ) to assess the Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHROOL) in children across Oral and Oro-Facial conditions. The instrument will consist of a family of questionnaires; a Primary Caregiver Perceptions Questionnaire (PCPQ) and age-specific Child Perceptions Questionnaires (CPQ). The former will tap caregiver (predominantly parent) perceptions of the child's OHRQOL and the impact of the child's condition on the family, while the latter will tap the child's perception of the impact of the condition on his/her well-being and daily life. To address age-appropriate developmental tasks, age-specific questionnaires are necessary for children to accommodate age-related changes in children's emotional and cognitive development. This study is the initial phase of a multi-stage effort to create three age-appropriate questionnaires for children and will develop a questionnaire for 10-14 year olds and their caregivers. Because of the greater complexities associated with the development of questionnaires for younger children, analogous questionnaires will be developed for children aged 3-5 and 6-9 years at a later date. Children and parents from multiple clinical sites in two North American locations will be recruited to develop a psychometrically sound instrument to measure OHRQOL. Specific ethnic groups (African American, Hispanic, Asians, and Whites) will be recruited to assess the cultural appropriateness of the questionnaires. This proposal is concerned with the development of these questionnaires and the assessment of their performance as discriminatory instruments. Data from this study will provide insight and preliminary data to develop substantive hypotheses in clinical trials with pediatric dental patients across a variety of conditions. The ultimate aim of this instrument is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of services delivered to pediatric dental patients. The PCPQ and the CPQ will help to measure the burden of pediatric oral and oro-facial disorders in general populations, population subgroups and groups of patients, and to evaluate the effectiveness of pediatric oral care services. Given the disparities in health status across ethnic groups and SES as well as the thrust to ration health costs, examining the impact of oral health conditions is essential in developing health policy.
| Locker, David; Jokovic, Aleksandra; Allison, Paul (2007) Direction of wording and responses to items in oral health-related quality of life questionnaires for children and their parents. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 35:255-62 |
| Dunlow, Neil; Phillips, Ceib; Broder, Hillary L (2007) Concurrent validity of the COHIP. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 35 Suppl 1:41-9 |
| Broder, Hillary L (2007) Children's oral health-related quality of life. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 35 Suppl 1:5-7 |
