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Breakfast Habits among Schoolchildren in the City of Uruguaiana, Brazil
Published on: July 29, 2020
Validity of the Brazilian version of the Venham's behavior rating scale
Mariana Gonzalez Cademartori1, Denise Paiva Da Rosa1, Luísa Jardim Correa Oliveira1
1Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
Background:
Venham's Behavior Rating Scale (VBRS) is a measure of uncooperative behavior developed to assess children's responses to dental stress.
Aim:
To evaluate the validity of the Brazilian version of the VBRS.
Design:
Children aged 7-13 years were invited to participate in this study. Child behavior was concurrently assessed with both the VBRS and the Frankl Scale. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to determine the cut-off points of the Brazilian version of the VBRS. Criterion validity was determined using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Discriminant validity was tested before and after scale dichotomization.
Results:
A total of 265 children participated in this study. According to the ROC curve, the ≥1 cut-off point was best for this population (SENS 97.4%; SPEC 94.7%). The Brazilian version of the VBRS was significantly correlated with the Frankl Scale (r -0.69; <0.001, r -0.72; <0.001). Child behavior assessed was related to complexity of treatment, type of procedure, use of local anesthesia, and dental fear.
Conclusions:
The results provide strong evidence for the validity of Brazilian version of the VBRS in behavior assessment of children aged 7-13 years during dental care.
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