Electronic dental questionnaire for children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation of the feasibility and utility of electronic administration of patient-reported outcome measures in Paediatric Dentistry
IRAS ID
318145
Contact name
Sultan Attamimi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Clinical Research & Innovation Office
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
Research Summary
Poor oral health affects children from different aspects and impact their daily lives. In healthcare, there is a shift to capture these impacts from children’s own perspectives by using valid questionnaires instead of relying on clinician subjective evaluation alone. The valid questionnaires, whenever answered by the children (or patients in general), are named patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). PROMs are an umbrella term that covers a range of different types of questionnaires that capture impacts of oral health in general or specific diseases such as tooth decay or conditions such as dental anxiety. The aim of my project is to deliver two types of PROMs (tooth decay PROM and dental anxiety PROM) electronically for all children attending the paediatric new patient clinic at Charles Clifford dental hospital. Based on previous studies, we believe that if PROMs were introduced regularly in dental practice, they would improve clinician-child communication and tailoring treatment plan specific to the child’s needs. The electronic delivery of PROMs was considered in order to reduce the burden on dental staff and maintain clinic flow. A secure web-based clinical assessment system was successfully developed based on the consensus between the members of the CCDH paediatric dental department and the e-PAQ developer and named the electronic Personal Assessment Questionnaire- Paediatric Dentistry (ePAQ-PD).ePAQ-PD is a system that children and their parents/guardians can securely access through a unique invitation letter that can be delivered to patients through email address or post. The invitation letter consists of an ePAQ® weblink URL address and 16 unique digits of an alphanumerical voucher code. Clinicians will be able to view the children’s responses at appointment time. Studies will be conducted to investigate how the ePAQ-PD is feasible and clinically useful by evaluating data collected by ePAQ-PD and interviewing both children and their parents/guardians and clinical staff.
Summary of Results
Background: Healthcare is starting to focus more on what patients say about their own health and well-being (called Patient-Reported Outcome Measures or PROMs), not just what doctors observe. But there's not much research about using these kinds of tools regularly in children's dental care.
Purpose: This study looked at whether it's possible and helpful to use a web-based questionnaire (called the ePAQ-PD) to learn more about how children's feel about their dental health and experiences during regular dental visits.
What Was Done:
First, a electronic questionnaire was created using existing tools that measure the impact of poor oral health and dental anxiety in children, plus some open-ended questions. Then, the electronic questionnaire was tested to make sure it worked properly and was easy to use. After that, it was used in real dental appointments. Children, their parents or carers, and dental staff gave feedback about how useful and practical it was. Lastly, the researchers checked how reliable and accurate one part of the questionnaire (the eCARIES-QC) was for measuring children's experiences with poor oral health.What Was Found:
The electronic questionnaire worked well and was easy to use. Over 200 children and their families completed the questionnaire, and most of them found the electronic format acceptable. The results gave useful insights about children's preferences, how the questionnaire helped with care planning, and how it made communication better between patients and staff. One question asking children if they had anything they wanted to tell the dentist was especially useful. Some suggestions were made to improve the design and make it even more user-friendly. The eCARIES-QC part of the questionnaire was found to be highly reliable and worked well even with children outside the age group it was originally made for. The open-ended questions also revealed extra issues like pain, sensitivity, appearance, and anxiety that might not have been picked up otherwise.Conclusion:
The ePAQ-PD questionnaire seems to work well for everyday use in children's dental clinics. It helps kids take a more active role in their dental care, improves communication, and enhances their experience. The questionnaire used were reliable and provided helpful information that could improve dental care planning.REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
22/WA/0353
Date of REC Opinion
14 Dec 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion