Development of a web-based dental anxiety measure for children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development of a web-based version of the Children’s Experience of Dental Anxiety Measure for clinical assessment
IRAS ID
197533
Contact name
Annie Morgan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Dental anxiety in the children is very common. Childhood dental anxiety is associated with poor oral health and negative impacts on daily living, both of which can extend into adulthood. Therefore, it is important for dental professionals to be able to assess dental anxiety so that patients can receive appropriate treatment. However, the currently available self-report questionnaires for childhood dental anxiety have been identified as having failings. Of importance, child questionnaires have been based on those for adults, whereby children have to fit their thinking into adult ideas. The Children's Experience of Dental Anxiety Measure (CEDAM) is a new questionnaire developed with children’s involvement. It is designed to measure multidimensional (thoughts, feelings, physical symptoms and behaviours) aspects of children’s experiences of dental anxiety. The properties of the CEDAM have been tested and found to be excellent. Children who participated in the development of the CEDAM expressed a strong preference for questionnaires that could be completed online, via mobile smart devices, or on social media, over traditional paper questionnaires. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop and test a web-based version of the paper CEDAM for use on tablet devices (eCEDAM).
The project has three stages. The first stage involves the migration of the paper CEDAM onto a web-based platform. A second stage will involve panel testing with a group of children (5-10 participants) to evaluate design features of the prototype eCEDAM, and individual interviews with children to further refine the prototype. Finally, a randomised cross-over trial will be carried out, with participants will be asked to complete both the paper CEDAM and eCEDAM, to compare data equivalence, data quality, and patient preferences for the two versions of the measure. Additionally, acceptability and usability of the eCEDAM will be evaluated.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0038
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion