Measuring Beliefs about Orthodontic Treatment: A Questionnaire Approach

Objectives : Few studies have examined what parents and orthodontists expect from and value about orthodontic treatment. In this study, we designed and tested a questionnaire to outline what drives consumer demand for children's orthodontic care. Further, we present data from the questionnaire to illustrate how expectations and values pertaining to orthodontic treatment relate to sociodemographic variables. Methods : Subjects were 220 Pennsylvania orthodontists and 220 parents at a university orthodontic clinic who were administered a questionnaire designed to assess what parents and orthodontists value about and expect from orthodontic treatment. Items for the questionnaire were developed via a qualitative, telephone interview process. Data were analyzed using factor analysis and reliability analysis for scale development, and analysis of variance for preliminary validity assessment. Results : Through factor analysis, the questionnaire was reduced from 84 to 52 items, and eight scales were examined: expected treatment benefits, expected treatment risks (short- and long-term), expected treatment inconveniences, value of treatment benefits, value of risks (short- and long-term), and value of treatment inconveniences. For parents, the reliability for all scales was in the acceptable range. For orthodontists, only the “short-term risks” scale failed to attain an acceptable reliability. Preliminary validity was assessed through examining relationships between demographic variables and subscale scores. For parents, income, father's education level, and sex of respondent were related to treatment expectations and values. For orthodontists, age, sex, and patient volume were related to treatment values. Conclusions : The questionnaire developed in the present study was found to be practical and reliable for use with providers and consumers of orthodontic care and can be used to explore factors affecting the demand for orthodontic care. Implications of possible unrealistic treatment expectations on the part of orthodontists and parents also are discussed.     

Validation of a Chinese version of the dental anxiety inventory

OBJECTIVES: To translate the English version of Dental Anxiety Inventory (DAxI) and its short-form (SDAxI) and to validate their use in Hong Kong Chinese. METHODS: The DAxI and SDAxI were translated into Chinese. A total of 500 adults (18-64 years) were interviewed, the Chinese DAxI, Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were completed. Based on their initial DAxI scores, 135 interviewees were invited to attend a dental examination 1 month later. Then, the subjects completed the DAxI again, together with Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) which measured the state anxiety level of the participants. Two months after the initial interview, all 500 subjects were asked to complete the DAxI again. Another 300 adults were recruited and interviewed for the SDAxI validation. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha of the Chinese DAxI and SDAxI were 0.77 and 0.80 and the test-retest correlation coefficients were 0.90 and 0.84, respectively. High correlation between BAI and DAxI scores and its stability over time supported construct validity of the Chinese DAxI. Small positive correlations between the DAxI and other subscales of the SCL-90, DASS and STAI supported discriminant validity of the instrument. The SDAxI demonstrated comparable validity and reliability with DAxI. CONCLUSION: The translated Chinese DAxI demonstrated good validity and reliability. It is available for use in dental anxiety research in adult Chinese. In situations where a short-form is desirable, the Chinese SDAxI is a simple, valid, reliable and interpretable scale for measuring dental anxiety in both research and dental practice.     

Self-reported oral problems, compared with clinical assessment in an epidemiological study

Abstract:  Objectives:  To study self-reported oral problems in relation to periodontal clinical findings in an epidemiological investigation. Materials and methods:  1676 individuals, 828 men and 848 women, participated. The clinical examination comprised the number of remaining teeth excluding third molars, plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP%), calculus index (CI) and the number of teeth with pocket depth (PD) ≥5 mm. Participants answered a questionnaire concerning smoking and snuffing habits and described in their own words any oral problems present. Analysis of variance ( anova ), unpaired t -test and chi-squared test were the statistical methods used. Results:  The questionnaire was completed by 99.4% of participants. Problems of the teeth and mouth were reported by 28.9% of respondents comprising 31.8% females and 26.2% males. The difference between the sexes was statistically significant ( P  < 0.05). Of the reported oral problems, 57.4% was of periodontal origin. The differences between subjects with and without self-reported mobile teeth showed significant clinical outcome in PLI ( P  < 0.001), CI ( P  < 0.01), GI ( P  < 0.001), BOP% ( P  < 0.01), the number of teeth with PD ≥ 5 mm ( P  < 0.001) and the number of remaining teeth ( P  < 0.001). The differences between subjects with and without self-reported periodontal disease and with and without bleeding gingiva also showed significant differences in CI ( P  < 0.05), GI ( P  < 0.05) and the number of teeth with PD ≥ 5 mm ( P  < 0.05) and in PLI (0.001), CI ( P  < 0.01), GI ( P  < 0.001) and BOP% ( P  < 0.001) respectively. Conclusions:  Present study clearly shows that self-reported periodontal problems were confirmed by clinical assessments.     

Subjective patients' opinion and evaluation of halitosis using halimeter and organoleptic scores

Objectives:  The aim of the study was to evaluate the level of interest in fetor ex ore among respondents, patients of the Department of Conservative Dentistry in Warsaw.
Materials and Methods:  A questionnaire was completed by 295 patients, 202 females and 93 males aged 18–74 years (average 38.73 years). Each person was also examined for organoleptic score and volatile sulfur compounds (VSC) by Halimeter. Halitosis was diagnosed if the average level of VSC was ≥125 ppb and the organoleptic measurement using a 0–5 point scale was ≥2. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-square test.
Results:  Incidence of halitosis was greatest in age ranges 25–34 years (29.68%) and 45–54 years (24.52%). Sixty-eight (43.87%) persons with diagnosed halitosis frequently reported having a problem with bad breath and only 5.81% persons with halitosis did not notice this problem ( P  < 0.001). Among 54 healthy persons three (5.56%) reported having a problem with halitosis ( P  < 0.001).
Conclusion:  A statistically significant correlation was found between clinical organoleptic diagnosis of halitosis and VSC level by halimeter. Subjective patients' opinion correlated well with objective evaluation of halitosis.     

German short forms of the Oral Health Impact Profile

OBJECTIVES: We report the development and psychometric evaluation of short forms of the Oral Health Impact Profile German version (OHIP-G) - an instrument to assess oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). METHODS: A five-item short form was developed using best subset regression in 2050 subjects from a national survey. Two 14-item versions were derived from English-language short forms and a 21-item version from previous factor analytic work. A second sample from the general population (n = 163) and a sample of clinical patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD; n = 175) were used to investigate validity and internal consistency. Test-retest reliability was evaluated in 30 prosthodontic patients before treatment. Responsiveness was assessed in 67 patients treated for their TMD pain. RESULTS: Associations between short form summary scores and self-report of oral health and four oral disorders in the general population and in TMD patients were interpreted as support for convergent/groups validity. The instruments' responsiveness (effect measures of 0.55-0.98), test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients: 0.72-0.87), and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.65-0.92) were sufficient. CONCLUSIONS: Sufficient discriminative and evaluative psychometric properties of short forms of the OHIP-G make the instruments suitable to assess OHRQoL in cross-sectional as well as longitudinal studies.     

妇科门诊患者中药汤剂煎服依从性现状及影响因素调查

目的中药汤剂在妇科门诊中具有重要的治疗价值,本研究旨在通过首次调查患者中药汤剂煎服依从性现状及其影响因素,为提高患者服药依从性提供理论依据。方法采用抽样法选取本院妇科门诊227例患者,使用临床资料调查表、焦虑自评量表以及中药汤剂煎服依从性量表对患者进行调查,使用线性回归对影响因素进行分析。结果 227例患者的中药依从性得分为4~17分,平均(11.62±2.92)分,其中是否初诊、医生态度、理解程度及学历水平是影响患者中药汤剂煎服依从性的因素(P<0.05)。结论本院妇科门诊患者的中药汤剂煎服依从性处于中等偏上水平且有待提高,对于学历水平较高、对医生诊疗表示不理解、非初次就诊的患者进行加强健康教育,同时医生持有良好的执医态度可成为提升患者中药汤剂煎服依从性实践方法。     

国人版角膜接触镜配戴者生活质量量表的研制与评估

目的：研制国人版角膜接触镜配戴者生活质量量表（CLIQ）并评估其信度和效度,分析得分的影响因素。方法：对英国原版CLIQ进行翻译、回译、文化调试,形成国人版量表。采用横断面研究,选择2015年4─12月在温州医科大学附属眼视光医院就诊的角膜接触镜配戴者205例进行问卷调查, 其中再随机选取20例由2名调查员分别进行调查,对问卷数据进行统计分析。结果：回收有效问卷201例。视功能维度因应答率小于50%被删除。量表Cronbach's α系数为0.77,眼部症状维度为0.68, 便利性、经济和情感维度均>0.7,量表Guttmann Split-Half系数为0.89,眼部症状、便利性、经济和情感维度分别为0.75、0.78、0.65和0.93。认知维度Cronbach's α系数和Guttmann Split-Half系数均为 0.49故被删除;删除条目20后健康关注维度Cronbach's α系数和Guttmann Split-Half系数分别为0.68 和0.73。2名调查员之间的评分结果高度相关（r=0.87～0.99,P<0.001）。各条目的条目水平内容效度指数为0.83～1.00,量表的平均水平内容效度指数为0.95。探索性因子分析提取的5个因子分别对应各维度,累计方差贡献率60.43%。眼部症状维度与年龄（r=-0.153,P=0.03）和戴镜年数（r=-0.167, P=0.018）轻度相关,情感维度与戴镜年数轻度相关（r=0.209,P=0.003）。量表总分在不同戴镜年数[（3.60±0.34）年 vs. （3.71±0.32）年,P=0.026、每月戴镜天数[（3.60±0.33）d vs. （3.70±0.33）d, P=0.041]和无/有眼部症状（3.71±0.32 vs. 3.60±0.34,P=0.021）的配戴者间差异有统计学意义。软镜配戴者的经济维度对分高于硬镜配戴者（t=2.588,P=0.017）。结论：删去视功能维度、认知维度和条目20后,CLIQ量表的信度和效度较好,戴镜年数越长、每月戴镜天数越多以及无眼部症状的患者得分较高,硬镜配戴者在花费方面的担忧更多。     

上海市松江区中小学生长处和困难问卷调查分析

目的 通过对上海市松江区中小学生长处和困难问卷（SDQ）（父母版）调查,探讨松江区中小学存在的心理行为问题.方法 采用分层整群随机抽样,抽取了上海市松江区5所中小学1 739名学生进行长处和困难问卷（SDQ）（父母版）的调查,所得的数据进行性别和年龄的差异比较.结果 调查数据显示松江区中小学生≤11岁年龄段的学生在情绪问题、多动注意不能、总分得分均显著高于＞11岁年龄段学生（P＜0.01）.男生在行为问题、多动注意不能、总分得分显著高于女生;女生在亲社会行为得分显著高于男生.结论 长处和困难问卷（SDQ）（父母版）适用于上海市松江区中小学生的心理行为问题的发现,在儿童青少年的心理发展敏感期,老师和家长应加以关注.     

Dimensions of psychotic experiences among women in the general population

Full‐information factor analysis of ordinal data was employed to determine the factorial structure of the responses of 31,822 adult Swedish women to the 20 “positive” psychotic experience items of the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) questionnaire. Five separable but correlated trait dimensions were found, reflecting Paranoia, Grandiosity, Magical Thinking, Delusions, and Hallucinations. High scores on any dimension were associated with a higher probability of questionnaire‐assessed lifetime major depressive episodes or generalized anxiety disorder, though Grandiosity was so only to a very small degree. Our results closely match previous findings among adolescents and young women, and demonstrate that psychotic experiences cannot be considered a single trait. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.