Developing a caries-specific child-centred utility measure (Version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of a preference based child-centred measure of dental caries suitable for use in economic evaluation
IRAS ID
241330
Contact name
Helen Jessica Rogers
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Tooth decay (caries) is a common disease worldwide, and can cause children to have toothache, problems sleeping, eating, speaking and having to take time off school. Dental decay is the most common reason for children to be admitted to hospital, and costs the NHS around £3.4 billion each year. The NHS has a limited amount of money and demand for services is continually increasing. Decision-makers have to choose which treatments to fund, considering whether they are value for money (cost-effective). This means the costs and benefits are compared. In dentistry, there is no measure that can be used to work out and compare the effectiveness of treatments for children's teeth. This means that decisions about funding of dental services for children with tooth decay are not well informed. A questionnaire that can work out the effectiveness of treatments and is suitable for children to complete themselves is needed. Seeking children’s opinions tells us which aspects of tooth decay matter to children most, so that treatment decisions relate to what is actually important to them.
This project intends to adapt a questionnaire called CARIES-QC with children's involvement, to make it suitable to test the benefits of different dental treatments for tooth decay. The questionnaire will be made up of activities, or tasks, for children to complete to see how they would rate different features of tooth decay. This project also aims to find out which type of task is most suitable for children to complete independently, as well as how many tasks children can manage and which age range of children can complete them. I will share the results of this project with everyone involved, the public, other healthcare professionals, and decision makers, and the new measure will be made available from the university website for use in future research.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/YH/0148
Date of REC Opinion
11 Jul 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion