title: Determinants of self-assessed gingival health among adolescents.
abstract: The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to assess the extent of agreement between clinical and self-assessed gingival health and to investigate possible factors associated with the amount of self-assessed gingival bleeding. A study group comprising students enrolled in grade 7 or 8 in Helsinki, Finland (n = 172), performed a self-assessment based on two tests: the amount of bleeding after toothbrushing and after interproximal tooth cleaning with toothpicks. Clinical examinations based on bleeding on probing (BOP%) were carried out by four local community dentists. The highest observed kappa value was 0.43 for the agreement between BOP% and self-assessment when tested with different cut-off points of diagnosis. Multivariate analysis showed that clinical status and toothbrushing frequency were statistically significantly associated with self-assessed gingival bleeding in both tests. Socioeconomic status and locus of control orientation were also statistically significant factors in the toothpick test. In conclusion, the validity of self-assessment of bleeding was sufficient for monitoring adolescents' gingival health in groups. Self-assessed bleeding was explained by the same factors that were associated with clinical gingival health status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kallio
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murtomaa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003149:Community Dentistry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012923:Social Class; D014099:Toothbrushing