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Reliability of self-reported toothbrushing frequency as an indicator for the assessment of oral hygiene in epidemiological research on caries in adolescents: a cross-sectional study

Overview of attention for article published in BMC Medical Research Methodology, March 2015
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Title
Reliability of self-reported toothbrushing frequency as an indicator for the assessment of oral hygiene in epidemiological research on caries in adolescents: a cross-sectional study
Published in
BMC Medical Research Methodology, March 2015
DOI 10.1186/s12874-015-0002-5
Pubmed ID
Authors

Giovana S Gil, Francine S Morikava, Gabriela C Santin, Tatiana P Pintarelli, Fabian C Fraiz, Fernanda M Ferreira

Abstract

In the present state of knowledge regarding the etiology of dental caries, it is unacceptable for studies addressing factors associated with this outcome to disregard oral hygiene. Simple, valid methods are needed for the assessment of oral hygiene in adolescents to allow this condition to be properly investigated in epidemiological studies on caries and assist in the establishment of health promotion measures. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the self-reported toothbrushing frequency can be used as a proxy measure for clinical oral hygiene indices in epidemiological studies on dental caries in adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample (n = 589) of 12-year-old school children in a medium-sized city in southern Brazil. A detailed questionnaire addressing socio-demographic and economic characteristics was sent to primary caregivers. Adolescents answered a brief self-administered questionnaire on behavioral characteristics, including toothbrushing frequency and sugar intake. Samples of stimulated saliva were collected from the adolescents and evaluated for levels of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli using Dentacult kits I and II, respectively. Examiners who had undergone a training and calibration exercise (kappa > 0.81) performed the clinical examination of the adolescents. Caries experience was assessed using the decayed, missing and filled teeth index. Oral hygiene was determined using the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index and the Visible Plaque Index. When the oral hygiene variables were used alone in the multiple models, significant associations with dental caries were found. When Simplified Oral Hygiene Index and/or Plaque Index were used together with toothbrushing frequency in the same model, only the latter was significantly associated with dental caries. A significant association was also found between self-reported toothbrushing frequency and the clinical indices. Based on the present findings, self-reported toothbrushing frequency can be used as a proxy measure for clinical oral hygiene indices, which facilitates data collection in epidemiological studies addressing dental caries in adolescents.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 127 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 127 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 19 15%
Student > Bachelor 18 14%
Student > Ph. D. Student 12 9%
Researcher 8 6%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 6%
Other 25 20%
Unknown 38 30%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 51 40%
Nursing and Health Professions 10 8%
Social Sciences 4 3%
Sports and Recreations 4 3%
Psychology 3 2%
Other 12 9%
Unknown 43 34%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 March 2015.
All research outputs
#18,616,159
of 23,881,329 outputs
Outputs from BMC Medical Research Methodology
#1,755
of 2,109 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#179,544
of 260,852 outputs
Outputs of similar age from BMC Medical Research Methodology
#19
of 26 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,881,329 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 19th percentile – i.e., 19% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,109 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 10.5. This one is in the 13th percentile – i.e., 13% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 26 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 26th percentile – i.e., 26% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.