title: Child and adolescent perceptions of oral health over the life course.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elicit perceptions of oral health in children and adolescents as an initial step in the development of oral health item banks for the Patient-Reported Oral Health Outcomes Measurement Information System project.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted focus groups with ethnically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse youth (8-12, 13-17 years) to identify perceptions of oral health status. We performed content analysis, including a thematic and narrative analysis, to identify important themes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified three unique themes that the youth associated with their oral health status: (1) understanding the value of maintaining good oral health over the life course, with respect to longevity and quality of life in the adult years; (2) positive association between maintaining good oral health and interpersonal relationships at school, and dating, for older youth; and (3) knowledge of the benefits of orthodontic treatment to appearance and positive self-image, while holding a strong view as to the discomfort associated with braces.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results provide valuable information about core domains for the oral health item banks to be developed and generated content for new items to be developed and evaluated with cognitive interviews and in a field test.
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. cmaida@ucla.edu.|Division of Oral Biology and Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. cmaida@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Carl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Maida
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Marvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.|Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.|RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, 90401, USA.
authors.forename: Ron D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.|RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, 90401, USA.
authors.forename: Ian D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Coulter
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Dentistry, Division of Growth and Development, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramos-Gomez
authors.affiliation: Division of Constitutive and Regenerative Sciences, Section of Restorative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Steve Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Dentistry, Division of Growth and Development, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: McClory
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Laura V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Van
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.|Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Vladimir W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Spolsky
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Crall
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health and Community Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.|Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.|Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Honghu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health / Q000639:trends*; D010465:Perception; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Children; Focus groups; Oral health; Patient-reported outcomes; Pediatric