Original scientific paper
Epidemiologic testing of dental morbidity by means of questionnaires and checking their values
Juraj Hraste
; Zavod za zaštitu zdravlja, Rijeka
Mladen Havelka
; Republički zavod za zaštitu zdravlja, Zagreb
M. Krsnik
; Savjetnik za zubozdravstvenu službu M. Krsnik
Abstract
An investigation of the condition of the oral cavity with regard to dental morbidity by means of epidemiologic methods apart from other advantages offers an insight into the distribution of diseases of a population living in certain areas or again of individual segments of the population.Within the scope of the international project of the World Health Organisation »International Collaborative Study of Medical Care Utilization« — in the further text WHO/ICS/MCU, one of the several methodologic studies in the project was the evaluation of the inquiry and the accuracy of the data on dental morbidity. The region of Istra and the Croatian Littoral, comprised by the project mentioned, numbered 440.000 inhabitants (46% belonging to the urban and 54% to the rural population). A representative sample was used, obtained by the geographical method of choice selection and the results of the investigation may thus be applied to the entire population living in that region. The problem of the study of validity was to establish to what extent we may rely on the accuracy of the data compiled be means of questionnaire forms given to subjects to complete. The actual sta'te of the teeth was taken as a criterium for the determination of the validity and this was established by means of a stomatological examination after the inquiry had been completed. After analysing the medical and statistical data compiled by a specialist in stomatology and the statements made by the subjects taking part in the inquirv, the percentage of agreement proved to be satisfactory. Thus the percentage of agreement in the replies given by the test subjects to questions about the number of extracted teeth as established by the inquiry and the actual number of teeth missing, as established by the examination amounted to 86,3%, dissent was recorded in 12,6% whereas no data were available for 1.2%. In the replies given by test subjects about the existence of dental-prosthetic replacements and the actual presence of dental prostheses, the percentage of agreement was 84.6% and there was dissent in 12.1% while no data were available for 2.6%. Accordingly we may rightly conclude that the data which we obtained from the questionnaires, respectively the WHO/ICS/MCU study are in accordance with the existing standards and that they represent a relatively precise indicator of the actual dental morbidity of the population investigated.
With regard to the representativeness of the sample, the conclusions about the rates of morbidity of the teeth in the investigated sample may be enlarged to include the entire population of the region of Istra and the Croat Littoral.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
108088
URI
Publication date:
15.9.1972.
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