Development and testing of a patient-centered dental home assessment for low-income families

Patient-reported assessment of compassion in Spanish: a systematic review

Aims and objectives

This systematic review aims to: (1) explore which tools have been used in Spanish to measure compassion; (2) know which of these tools could be used to assess compassion in healthcare settings from the perspective of patients; (3) evaluate the quality of these patient-reported measures in Spanish contexts; and (4) determine which of these instruments would be best suited to be used in healthcare settings.

Background

Compassion has been recognized as a fundamental dimension of quality healthcare.

Methods

Several scientific databases were consulted for relevant records published up to December 16th, 2021. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, 64 studies were included.

Results and conclusions

while existing instruments, validated in Spanish, allow for the measurement of self-compassion or compassion to others, there are no valid and reliable measures currently available in Spanish to measure patient-reported compassion.

Relevance to clinical practice

In order to ensure and promote compassion in the health care context, it is essential to have a valid and reliable tool to measure this construct in a patient-informed way, and this is currently not possible in the Spanish-speaking context because of the lack of such an instrument in Spanish.

Scale development to measure the patient perception of patient-centered care of dentists in primary care settings of Thailand: a measurement invariance test

BACKGROUND

Patient-centered care is essential for providing quality services thoroughly at the primary care level, but it is unclear and lacks measurement. This study aimed to develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure patient perception of patient-centered care in primary dental care in Thailand and test the measurement invariance between large and small community hospitals.

METHODS

The initial set of 45 items for the patient perception of Patient-Centered Care of Dentist Scale (PCCDS-P version) was developed using a mixed-method approach, which included a literature review, a content validity test, cognitive interviews, and a pre-test. A multistage sampling strategy was used to recruit dental patients or their parents or caregivers from community hospitals across Thailand. Validity was examined through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Furthermore, a multi-group analysis was conducted to compare the responses of patients from large and small community hospitals.

RESULTS

Three hundred thirty-six and One thousand one hundred sixty-seven samples were randomized for EFA and CFA, respectively. The final PCCDS-P version consists of 7 factors with satisfactory reliability and validity and is composed of 42 items: dentist-patient relationship, disease-illness, integrated care, communication, shared information and decision-making, holistic, and empathy and anxiety management. The CFA showed the model fit was consistent with the entire sample. The metric invariance analysis showed that the factor loadings were invariant across patient groups. Overall, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient were satisfactory.

CONCLUSIONS

The newly developed PCCDS-P version is composed of seven domains with 42 items with good reliability and validity, and it indicated measurement invariance across patients in large and small community hospitals.

A randomized controlled trial of 6-month dental home visits on 24-month caries incidence in preschool children

OBJECTIVES

This paper reports on the effect of 6-month dental home visits compared to no dental home visits on 24-month caries incidence in 5- to 6-year-olds.

METHODS

5- to 6-year-olds attending kindergartens were randomized to receive either 6-month dental home visits and education leaflets (Intervention group) or education leaflets alone (Control group) over 24 months. To detect a 15% difference in caries incidence with a significance level of 5% and power of 80%, 88 children were calculated to be needed in the Intervention group and 88 in the Control. Baseline clinical data included oral examinations at the kindergartens. Follow-up visits were made on the 6th, 12th and 18th month. At the end of the 24 months, both the Intervention and Control groups were visited for oral examinations. The primary outcome was caries incidence, measured by the number and proportion of children who developed new caries in the primary molars after 24 months. The secondary outcome was the number of primary molars that developed new caries (d-pms). Frequency distributions of participants by baseline socio-demographic characteristics and caries experience were calculated. The chi-square test was used to test differences between the caries experience in the Intervention and Control groups. The t test was used to compare the mean number of primary molars developing new caries between the Intervention Group and the Control Group. The number of children needed to treat (NNT) was also calculated.

RESULTS

At the 24-month follow-up, 19 (14.4%) developed new caries in the Intervention Group, compared to 60 (60.0%) in the Control Group (p = .001). On average, 0.2 (95% CI = 0.1-0.3) tooth per child in the Intervention Group was observed to have developed new caries compared to 1.1 (95% CI = 0.8-1.3) tooth per child in the Control Group (p = .001). The number of children needed to treat (NNT) to prevent one child from developing new caries was 2.2.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study has demonstrated that 6-month home visits to families of 5- to 6-year-olds are effective in caries prevention in 5- to 6-year-olds of low-income families in a middle-income country where access to health services, including oral health promotion services, is limited.