Development of short forms for screening children's dental caries and urgent treatment needs using item response theory and machine learning methods.

Objectives: Surveys can assist in screening oral diseases in populations to enhance the early detection of disease and intervention strategies for children in need. This paper aims to develop short forms of child-report and proxy-report survey screening instruments for active dental caries and urgent treatment needs in school-age children.

Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 497 distinct dyads of children aged 8-17 and their parents between 2015 to 2019 from 14 dental clinics and private practices in Los Angeles County.

Quantitative data collection approaches in subject-reported oral health research: a scoping review.

Background: This scoping review reports on studies that collect survey data using quantitative research to measure self-reported oral health status outcome measures. The objective of this review is to categorize measures used to evaluate self-reported oral health status and oral health quality of life used in surveys of general populations.

Methods: The review is guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) with the search on four online bibliographic databases.

Investigating Perceptions of Teachers and School Nurses on Child and Adolescent Oral Health in Los Angeles County.

This study reports the results of focus groups with school nurses and teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools to explore their perceptions of child and adolescent oral health. Participants included 14 school nurses and 15 teachers (83% female; 31% Hispanic; 21% White; 21% Asian; 14% African American; and 13% Others). Respondents were recruited from Los Angeles County schools and scheduled by school level for six one-hour focus groups using .

Using a Machine Learning Algorithm to Predict the Likelihood of Presence of Dental Caries among Children Aged 2 to 7.

Background: Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood infectious disease and is a serious public health problem affecting both developing and industrialized countries, yet it is preventable in most cases. This study evaluated the potential of screening for dental caries among children using a machine learning algorithm applied to parent perceptions of their child's oral health assessed by survey.

Methods: The sample consisted of 182 parents/caregivers and their children 2-7 years of age living in Los Angeles County.

Computerized adaptive testing and short form development for child and adolescent oral health patient-reported outcomes measurement.

Objectives: To develop computerized adaptive testing (CAT) and short forms of self-report oral health measures that are predictive of both the children's oral health status index (COHSI) and the children's oral health referral recommendation (COHRR) scales, for children and adolescents, ages 8-17.

Material And Methods: Using final item calibration parameters (discrimination and difficulty parameters) from the item response theory analysis, we performed post hoc CAT simulation. Items most frequently administered in the simulation were incorporated for possible inclusion in final oral health assessment toolkits, to select the best performing eight items for COHSI and COHRR.

Development of toolkits for detecting dental caries and caries experience among children using self-report and parent report.

Objectives: To develop child- and parent-reported toolkits for active caries and caries experience in children and adolescents, ages 8-17.

Methods: A sample of 398 child/parent dyads recruited from 12 dental practices in Los Angeles County completed a computer-assisted survey that assessed oral health perceptions. In addition, children received a dental examination that identified the presence or absence of active caries and caries experience.

Qualitative methods in the development of a parent survey of children's oral health status.

Background: Parents' perceptions of their 8-17-year-old children's oral health status were assessed using a sample from diverse dental clinics in Greater Los Angeles County to identify constructs for a survey instrument.

Methods: Focus groups with 29 parents or guardians were conducted to identify themes that informed development of survey items. The draft items were administered to a different group of 32 parents or guardians in cognitive interviews, and revised for subsequent field-testing.

Child and adolescent perceptions of oral health over the life course.

Purpose: To elicit perceptions of oral health in children and adolescents as an initial step in the development of oral health item banks for the Patient-Reported Oral Health Outcomes Measurement Information System project.

Methods: We conducted focus groups with ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse youth (8-12, 13-17 years) to identify perceptions of oral health status. We performed content analysis, including a thematic and narrative analysis, to identify important themes.

Viral immune evasion in dengue: toward evidence-based revisions of clinical practice guidelines.

Unlabelled: Dengue, a leading cause of illness and death in the tropics and subtropics since the 1950׳s, is fast spreading in the Western hemisphere. Over 30% of the world׳s population is at risk for the mosquitoes that transmit any one of four related Dengue viruses (DENV). Infection induces lifetime protection to a particular serotype, but successive exposure to a different DENV increases the likelihood of severe form of dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), or dengue shock syndrome (DSS).

Ebola: translational science considerations.

We are currently in the midst of the most aggressive and fulminating outbreak of Ebola-related disease, commonly referred to as "Ebola", ever recorded. In less than a year, the Ebola virus (EBOV, Zaire ebolavirus species) has infected over 10,000 people, indiscriminately of gender or age, with a fatality rate of about 50%. Whereas at its onset this Ebola outbreak was limited to three countries in West Africa (Guinea, where it was first reported in late March 2014, Liberia, where it has been most rampant in its capital city, Monrovia and other metropolitan cities, and Sierra Leone), cases were later reported in Nigeria, Mali and Senegal, as well as in Western Europe (i.

Disaster Research Team Building: A Case Study of a Web-based Disaster Research Training Program.

This case study describes the process and outcomes of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice Child and Family Disaster Research Training (UWDRT) Program housed at the University of Washington, which used web-based distance learning technology. The purposes of this program were to provide training and to establish a regional cadre of researchers and clinicians; to increase disaster mental health research capacity and collaboration; and to improve the scientific rigor of research investigations of disaster mental health in children and families. Despite a number of obstacles encountered in development and implementation, outcomes of this program included increased team member awareness and knowledge of child and family disaster mental health issues; improved disaster and public health instruction and training independent of the UWDRT program; informed local and state disaster response preparedness and response; and contributions to the child and family disaster mental health research literature.

Predictive power of the severity measure of attachment loss for periodontal care need.

Background: The prevalence of periodontal diseases is high, and >15% of adults have severe gum disease. Clinical attachment loss (AL) is one of the most important measures for periodontal disease severity. With AL, one could measure the worst scenario, the average, or the cumulative sum of AL among all teeth.

Oral health status and the epidemiologic paradox within Latino immigrant groups.

Background: According to the United States census, there are 28 categories that define "Hispanic/Latinos." This paper compares differences in oral health status between Mexican immigrants and other Latino immigrant groups.

Methods: Derived from a community-based sample (N = 240) in Los Angeles, this cross-sectional study uses an interview covering demographic and behavioral measures, and an intraoral examination using NIDCR epidemiologic criteria.

Socio-behavioral predictors of self-reported oral health-related quality of life.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between social and financial support, behavioral and sociodemographic variables, and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in a national probability sample.

Methods: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004 data system was used; there were 12,761 persons selected for the sample, 10,122 of those were interviewed (79.3 %).

From Systematic Reviews to Clinical Recommendations for Evidence-Based Health Care: Validation of Revised Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (R-AMSTAR) for Grading of Clinical Relevance.

Research synthesis seeks to gather, examine and evaluate systematically research reports that converge toward answering a carefully crafted research question, which states the problem patient population, the intervention under consideration, and the clinical outcome of interest. The product of the process of systematically reviewing the research literature pertinent to the research question thusly stated is the "systematic review".The objective and transparent approach of the systematic review aims to minimize bias.

Calibration of self-reported oral health to clinically determined standards.

Objective: Self-report of oral health is an inexpensive approach to assessing an individual's oral health status, but it is heavily influenced by personal views and usually differs from that of clinically determined oral health status. To assist researchers and clinicians in estimating oral health self-report, we summarize clinically determined oral health measures that can objectively measure oral health and evaluate the discrepancies between self-reported and clinically determined oral health status. We test hypotheses of trends across covariates, thereby creating optimal calibration models and tools that can adjust self-reported oral health to clinically determined standards.

Enhancing national capacity to conduct child and family disaster mental health research.

A substantial number of children and families experience emotional difficulties in the aftermath of disasters and terrorist events. Only recently has training in disaster preparedness and response been systematically incorporated into the curricula of mental health disciplines. The goal of the Child & Family Disaster Research Training & Education Program is to enhance the nation's capacity and infrastructure needed to conduct rigorous disaster mental health research on children and families.

Building National Capacity for Child and Family Disaster Mental Health Research.

Disaster mental health is a burgeoning field with numerous opportunities for professional involvement in preparedness, response, and recovery efforts. Research is essential to advance professional understanding of risk and protective factors associated with disaster outcomes; to develop an evidence base for acute, intermediate, and long-term mental health approaches to address child, adult, family, and community disaster-related needs; and to inform policy and guide national and local disaster preparedness, response, and recovery programs. To address the continued need for research in this field, we created the Child & Family Disaster Research Training & Education (DRT) program, which is focused specifically on enhancing national capacity to conduct disaster mental health research related to children, a population particularly vulnerable to disaster trauma.

Multi-informant assessment of maltreated children: convergent and discriminant validity of the TSCC and TSCYC.

Objective: This study examined the convergent and discriminant validity of two trauma symptom measures, the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) [Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC).

A comparative study of oral health status in a migrant/Japanese sample.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the oral health status of migrants to Japan with that of Japanese using the questionnaire and the Oral Health Status Index (OHSI).

Methods: The questionnaire for collecting demographic and behavioral variables and the OHSI were applied in a mixed migrant/Japanese sample of patients from a dental clinic in Yokohama. A sample of 224 subjects, 52% of whom were migrants, was selected from new patients.

National estimates of out-of-pocket dental costs for HIV-infected users of medical care.

Background: Out-of-pocket costs for U.S. dental care in 1996 were dollar 157 per person at the poverty level and dollar 229 for people with higher incomes.

Oral health findings for HIV-infected adult medical patients from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study.

Background: The HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS) was conducted by a consortium of private and government institutions centered at the RAND Corp. to provide national estimates of adult medical patients who are HIV-positive. This article presents descriptive oral health findings from that study.

Dental public health in California: a mixed picture.

Californians face significant dental public health problems. To address these problems, state government, professional organizations, and philanthropic entities in some areas have joined forces. Major issues such as fluoridation, access to care, and the role of the Dental Board of California are examined in terms of the varying roles these critical segments play in affecting the oral health of Californians.

Oral white patches in a national sample of medical HIV patients in the era of HAART.

Objectives: Several types of HIV-related oral mucosal conditions have been reported to occur during the course of HIV disease progression. Of these, few may be manifested as 'white' lesions and many are noticeable to the patient. This paper examines the relationships between social, behavioral and medical aspects of HIV infection and reporting an occurrence of oral white patches (OWP) by HIV-infected patients.