title: Prevalence and care index of early childhood caries in mainland China: evidence from epidemiological surveys during 1987-2013.
abstract: Early childhood caries (ECC) is the most common chronic disease in young children. Its reported prevalence varies greatly across China. This systematic review aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of ECC in mainland China from 1987 to 2013. In total, 102 articles were included. The pooled national prevalence and care index (ft/dmft%) for ECC were 65.5% and 3.6%, respectively. The overall ECC prevalence declined from 77.9% during 1987-1994 to 56.4% during 2010-2013. The pooled ECC prevalence for children aged 1-6 years was 0.3%, 17.3%, 40.2%, 54.4%, 66.1%, and 70.7%, respectively. There was no significant difference in prevalence between boys (59.1%) and girls (58.9%); and the care index was also similar (8.1% versus 7.7%). Slightly higher ECC prevalence was observed in rural areas (63.5%) compared with urban areas (59.5%) (RR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02-1.14); but a much higher care index was reported in urban children (6.0%) than their rural counterparts (1.6%) (RR = 3.68, 95% CI: 2.54-5.35). The 2006-2013 map of ECC prevalence among 5-year-olds showed wide geographic variations across China. Four adjacent provinces, including Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, and Shaanxi, constituted the areas with the lowest ECC prevalence in mainland China.
authors.affiliation: College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Chongqing key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaonan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhaoying
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Chongqing key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Conghua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Research Center for Medicine and Social Development, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|The Innovation Center for Social Risk Governance in Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.|Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Jinlin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.|Central Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.|Research Center for Public Health, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history; D005260:Female; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D017594:Publication Bias; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D014505:Urban Population