Developing guidance for analysis and reporting of oral epidemiological studies to inform burden estimation

鉴于疾病负担量化对卫生政策的重要作用，准确描述牙科疾病是一项基本责任。我们对全球疾病负担（GBD）研究的文献回顾显示，缺乏原始数据、一致性和与其他疾病的可比性，以及在测量牙齿状况方面的不正确和不完整的报告。这些问题在低收入和中等收入国家的研究中更为突出。学习必须达到最高标准，所以这些努力不会浪费资源。此外，牙科疾病的负担是通过牙科指标来衡量的，这些指标与一般健康指标没有可比性。我们需要一种大多数人都能容易理解的测量方法，而不仅仅是牙医。目前，没有公布的可理解的标准，以标准化和可与其他疾病比较的方式衡量和报告频率研究。本建议的目标是制定一份易于理解的手册和核对表，以便对天然牙齿的数量以及蛀牙、牙龈疾病和牙齿脱落的患病率进行合理和可比的测量和报告。指南和清单将根据国际标准分三个阶段制定。在第一阶段，研究小组将总结现有证据并审查现有标准，以编制一套核心项目列入清单。第二阶段将涉及德尔菲研究，这是在学术界和卫生政策领域工作的一组专家之间达成共识的一种方法。德尔菲研究将包括三轮在线问卷，旨在就清单中包括哪些项目达成一致。调查结果将被总结并反馈给参与者，同时还将根据收到的意见修订清单的更新版本。在第三阶段，研究结果将在一个国际牙科会议的研讨会上，在伦敦国王学院主办的一个开放获取出版物和专门网站上进行交流。

Given the prominent role attached to quantification of disease burden for health policy, an accurate description of dental diseases constitutes an essential responsibility. Our reviews of the literature for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study showed a lack of primary data, consistency, and comparability with other diseases as well as incorrect and incomplete reporting in the measurement of dental conditions. These issues are more accentuated in studies from low-and-middle income countries. Studies must meet the highest standards, so these efforts do not waste resources. Furthermore, the burden of dental diseases has been measured by dental indicators, which are not comparable to general health metrics. There is a need for measures that are easily understood by most people, not just dentists. Currently, there is no published comprehensible criteria to measure and report frequency studies in a standardised and comparable way with other diseases. The goal of this proposal is to develop an easy-to-understand manual and checklist to inform on the sound and comparable measurement and reporting of the number of natural teeth and the prevalence of tooth decay, gum disease and tooth loss. The guideline and checklist will be developed in three phases according to international standards. During phase I, the research team will summarise the available evidence and review existing standards to produce a core set of items for inclusion in the checklist. Phase II will involve a Delphi study, which is a method to achieve consensus among a group of experts working in academia and health policy. The Delphi study will consist of three rounds of online questionnaires designed to agree on which items to include in the checklist. The results will be summarised and fed back to the participants along with the updated version of the checklist that will be revised in the light of the comments received. In phase III, the findings will be communicated during a workshop in an international dental conference, in an open access publication and a dedicated website hosted at King's College London.