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Methodological issues in longitudinal epidemiologic studies of dental caries
1Department of Dental Ecology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7450, USA. gary_slade@dentistry.unc.edu
Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology
|July 14, 1999
Summary
This review details advanced methods for analyzing longitudinal dental caries data. It proposes a uniform approach for enumerating caries events across different outcome measures, enhancing data consistency in epidemiologic studies.
Area of Science:
- Epidemiology
- Dental Public Health
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Longitudinal epidemiologic studies of dental caries are increasingly complex.
- Sophisticated analytical approaches are needed to interpret this data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review methods for analyzing and reporting data from longitudinal dental caries studies.
- To present a uniform approach for enumerating caries events across various outcome measures.
Main Methods:
- Examination of traditional and alternative outcome measures (DMFS increment, cumulative incidence, incidence density).
- Discussion of key analytic decisions in DMFS increment calculation (e.g., examiner misclassification, teeth loss, multiple examinations, multiple events).
- Proposal of a unified method for enumerating caries events applicable to all outcome measures.
Main Results:
- A uniform approach is presented to ensure consistent enumeration of caries events.
- This method allows applying the same analytic decisions across DMFS increment, cumulative incidence, and incidence density.
Conclusions:
- Authors should clearly specify how all caries status changes are handled in longitudinal studies.
- Consistency in event enumeration is crucial when using multiple outcome measures for dental caries analysis.