A pilot study to develop a screening system and maltreatment index for elementary schoolchildren focusing on daily habits and dental caries

OBJECTIVE: In recent years, the number of consultations for maltreatment cases has been increasing in Japan. The characteristics of maltreated children are important factors for their identification. In an earlier paper, we analysed the daily habits related to maltreated children. In the present study, the objectives were to assess the relative weights of each factor and score the daily habits and treatment percentages for dental caries, and also to develop a screening system to find maltreated children. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 57 elementary schoolchildren who were given temporary protection by the child social welfare authorities. The control group comprised 575 elementary schoolchildren. Multiple logistics regression analysis was used to calculate scores for each item derived from partial correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Two versions of a maltreatment index for elementary schoolchildren (MIES) were developed, a daily habits version (H) and daily habits and treatment percentage of dental caries version (HD) for the 1st to 3rd grades (G1-3) and the 4th to 6th grades (G4-6). The MIES for G1-3H was: Do you brush your teeth before bedtime (3 points); Do you know that the first molars are important for chewing (2); Have you used a fluoride gel or mouth rinse (2); Do you have any hobbies except video games (2); Do you know the differences between permanent teeth and milk teeth (1). The MIES for G1-3HD were: Have you used a fluoride gel or mouth rinse (4); Do you brush your teeth before bedtime (3); Do you wash your hands after you play outside (2); Is the number of untreated deciduous teeth larger than the number of treated deciduous teeth (1). The MIES for G4-6H were: Do you wash your hands after you play outside (4); Do you brush your teeth after breakfast (3); Do you brush your teeth before bedtime (3). The G4-6HD were: Do you brush your teeth before bedtime (3); Do you wash your hands after you play outside (2); Is the number of untreated permanent teeth greater than the number of treated permanent teeth (1). The availability (sensitivity + specificity) of MIES HD was higher than MIES H when the original values were substituted into MIES. CONCLUSIONS: A screening system for finding maltreated children for MIES was designed. The precision of MIES could be improved by adding the treatment percentage of dental caries to daily habits.