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. 2016 Jan 13:6:18897.
doi: 10.1038/srep18897.

Prevalence and care index of early childhood caries in mainland China: evidence from epidemiological surveys during 1987-2013

Xiaonan Zhang  1   2 , Sheng Yang  1   3 , Zhaoying Liao  4 , Ling Xu  1   2 , Conghua Li  1   3 , Huan Zeng  5   6   7 , Jinlin Song  1   3 , Lei Zhang  8   9   10
Affiliations

Prevalence and care index of early childhood caries in mainland China: evidence from epidemiological surveys during 1987-2013

Xiaonan Zhang et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic disease in young children. Its reported prevalence varies greatly across China. This systematic review aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of ECC in mainland China from 1987 to 2013. In total, 102 articles were included. The pooled national prevalence and care index (ft/dmft%) for ECC were 65.5% and 3.6%, respectively. The overall ECC prevalence declined from 77.9% during 1987-1994 to 56.4% during 2010-2013. The pooled ECC prevalence for children aged 1-6 years was 0.3%, 17.3%, 40.2%, 54.4%, 66.1%, and 70.7%, respectively. There was no significant difference in prevalence between boys (59.1%) and girls (58.9%); and the care index was also similar (8.1% versus 7.7%). Slightly higher ECC prevalence was observed in rural areas (63.5%) compared with urban areas (59.5%) (RR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02-1.14); but a much higher care index was reported in urban children (6.0%) than their rural counterparts (1.6%) (RR = 3.68, 95% CI: 2.54-5.35). The 2006-2013 map of ECC prevalence among 5-year-olds showed wide geographic variations across China. Four adjacent provinces, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, and Shaanxi, constituted the areas with the lowest ECC prevalence in mainland China.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow chart of literature search and selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Temporal trend of early childhood caries prevalence in mainland China during 1987–2013.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Early childhood caries prevalence of different age group in mainland China during 1987–2013.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Forest plot of early childhood caries prevalence in rural and urban areas of mainland China during 1987–2013.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Spatial distribution of early childhood caries prevalence at age 5 in mainland China during 2006–2013 (created by the ArcGIS software).
Figure 6
Figure 6. Temporal trend of care index of early childhood caries in mainland China during 1987–2013.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Forest plot of care index of early childhood caries among different gender in mainland China during 1987–2013.
Figure 8
Figure 8. Forest plot of care index of early childhood caries among rural and urban areas of mainland China during 1987–2013.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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