An ecological study of caries experience, school performance and material deprivation in 5-year-old state primary school children.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether measures of school performance and socioeconomic circumstances could be used as indicators of caries experience in 5-year-old Wandsworth state primary schoolchildren.


METHODS
An ecological study using aggregated caries data collected in the British Association for the Study of Community Dentistry (BASCD) Oral Health Survey of 5-year-old children (2001), Jarman scores generated from national census data and matched by school postcodes (1991), school performance results in English, mathematics and Linguistic Awareness of Reading Readiness test (LARR; literacy) and free school meals recipient data from the Local Education Authority, Research and Evaluation Unit (2001).


METHODS
State primary schools in the London borough of Wandsworth, UK.


METHODS
All 55 Wandsworth state primary schools including 1968 5-year-old pupils.


METHODS
The school mean dmft score.


RESULTS
Simple linear regression analysis demonstrated that school mean dmft was statistically significantly associated with all five explanatory variables: English (P = 0.001), mathematics (P = 0.002), LARR (P < 0.001), the percentage of children receiving free school meals (P < 0.001) and the school address Jarman score (P = 0.02). Stepwise multiple linear regression identified the LARR score and the percentage of children receiving free school meals as the strongest indicators of school mean dmft score explaining 41% of the variation in school mean dmft score.


CONCLUSIONS
Early school performance results in English, mathematics and LARR, the percentage of children receiving free school meals and school address Jarman scores were good indicators of school mean dmft scores in 5-year-old children in the Wandsworth state primary schools.
Muirhead
Vanessa
V
Community Dental Service, Wandsworth Primary Care Trust, London. vanessa.muirhead@utoronto.ca
Marcenes
Wagner
W
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003467:Cultural Deprivation; D004245:DMF Index; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005522:Food Services; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D016014:Linear Models; D008131:London; D008433:Mathematics; D011932:Reading; D012923:Social Class; D012931:Social Environment; D035862:Vulnerable Populations