Abstract
Background: The Toothbrushing Observations Scale (TBOS) was developed in a laboratory setting to measure child and parent behaviors during toothbrushing. However, we required an instrument to assess home based behaviors. We assessed the feasibility of applying TBOS to observations of parents and their child (<3 years of age) in urban homes.Methods: Sample consisted of 36 families recruited from university and community pediatric dental/medical clinics and a Women, Infants, and Children center in Chicago as part of a pilot study for a larger clinical trial. The average age of children in our sample was 20.7 months. Most of the parent participants were mothers (90%), and 75% of the parents identified as Hispanic. Parent–child dyads were video-recorded during home-based toothbrushing activities and footage was reviewed by two independent TBOS coders.Results: The TBOS instrument consists of 12 parent and 18 child items. We were able to code five parent and ten child items.Conclusion: The feasibility of applying the TBOS measure to our study population was somewhat limited by factors related to home-based observations and the young age of children in our study. Instruments need to be validated across natural settings, such as the home, to increase the quality and accuracy of human behavioral data.
Highlights
Developing protective oral health behaviors is an important aspect of maintaining children’s oral health
Participants reflected the demographics of the recruitment sites as well as the targeted population for enrollment in the larger clinical trial (Table 1)
Small proportions of parents identified as White (11%) or Black (16%) race and 75% of parents identified as Hispanic in ethnicity
Summary
Developing protective oral health behaviors is an important aspect of maintaining children’s oral health. The presence of regular, parent-assisted toothbrushing predicts better pediatric oral health outcomes [1]. Barriers to developing a regular toothbrushing routine may be rooted in parent– child interactions [4]. Parent-Child Dynamics During Toothbrushing to contribute to establishing regular toothbrushing [4, 6]. The Toothbrushing Observation System (TBOS) was developed to better discriminate between parent and child behaviors that contribute or hinder improving children’s oral health. The Toothbrushing Observations Scale (TBOS) was developed in a laboratory setting to measure child and parent behaviors during toothbrushing. We required an instrument to assess home based behaviors. We assessed the feasibility of applying TBOS to observations of parents and their child (
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