Toward Development of a Naval Oral Health Status Index,
Abstract
The literature pertaining to general health indexes and a wide variety of oral health indexes is reviewed. The pioneering work of Nikias et al., in demonstrating the feasibility of using expert opinion to develop a comprehensive oral health index, is presented. After a review of all available literature concerning oral health indexes, it appeared that the oral lhealth statud index developed by Marcus et al., using the perference pairs methodology of MIckey and Britt to develop a model based upon the preferences of experts, provided the most promising alternative for an oral health index for use within the Navy's health care system. Subsequent evaluation of the methodologies employed by Marcus et al., however, revealed a number of problems which questioned the validity of the oral health status index, particularly for use within the Navy. More specifically, these problems related to the patient population sampled and a number of questionable statistical procedures used in the development of the oral health status index. The major conclusion of this thesis is that no existing oral health index both satisfies the preferences of experts and is suitable for use by health care providers, managers, planners, and other decision makers. Keywords: Dental Health Status Index.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA164264
Entities
People
- Craig A. Jimerfield
- Dennis M. Davidson
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School