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. 2017 Sep 20;15(1):182.
doi: 10.1186/s12955-017-0756-z.

Responsiveness of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is related to dental treatment complexity

Tatiane F Novaes  1   2 , Laura Regina A Pontes  1 , Julia G Freitas  1 , Carolina P Acosta  1 , Katia Cristina E Andrade  2 , Renata S Guedes  3 , Thiago M Ardenghi  4 , José Carlos P Imparato  1 , Mariana M Braga  1 , Daniela P Raggio  1 , Fausto M Mendes  5 ; CARDEC collaborative group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Responsiveness of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is related to dental treatment complexity

Tatiane F Novaes et al. Health Qual Life Outcomes. .

Abstract

Background: The responsiveness of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) has varied greatly across studies; hence, we hypothesized that this discrepancy could be related to the complexity of dental treatment received. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the responsiveness of the ECOHIS to changes in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) following dental treatments of varying complexity in preschool children.

Methods: Preschool children aged 3 to 6 years were selected; their parents responded to the ECOHIS at baseline. The parents responded to the ECOHIS again and a global transition question 30 days after the children were treated. The type of treatment received by the children was categorized according to complexity, as follows: 1) non-operative treatment only, 2) restorative treatment, and 3) endodontic treatment and/or tooth extraction. Change scores and effect sizes (ES) were calculated for total scores, as well as considering the different treatment types and global transition question responses.

Results: Of the 152 children who completed the study, the ECOHIS yielded large ES for total scores (0.89). The children showed increasing ES values associated with better perception of improvement, assessed by the global transition question. The magnitude of ES after treatment was related to treatment complexity (0.53, 0.92 and 1.43, for children who received non-operative treatment only, restorative treatment, and endodontic treatment and/or tooth extraction, respectively).

Conclusions: Parents whose children required more complex dental treatment are more likely to perceive treatment-related changes to OHRQoL assessed with the ECOHIS.

Keywords: Dental caries; Dental treatment; Oral health-related quality of life; Preschool children; Responsiveness.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The present study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo on 25 May 2012. All children’s guardians signed an informed consent prior to the participation in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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