Abstract
BackgroundThe Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) is an instrument designed to measure the self-reported oral health-related quality of life of children between the ages of 8 and 15, including domains for oral health, functional well-being, social-emotional well-being, school environment and self-image. The purpose of this study was to estimate the minimally important difference (MID) of the COHIP for patients with cleft lip/palate.MethodsData from a 6-year, prospective, longitudinal cohort study of children with cleft lip/palate were analyzed to estimate the MID. Analysis was restricted to patients with data at baseline and first follow-up and not receiving a surgical intervention in the intervening years (N = 281). MIDs were estimated via the anchor-based method, using the Global Assessment of Change, and the effect size distribution method.ResultsBased on the distributional method, the minimally important differences were 0.16 (oral health), 0.12 (functional), 0.22 (social-emotional), 0.21 (school environment) and 0.19 (self-image). MID anchor estimates for COHIP domains ranged from −0.32 to 0.84. The anchor-based and effect size MID estimates for the overall COHIP score were 2.95 and 0.25, respectively.ConclusionThe minimally important difference of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile is recommended for interpreting clinically meaningful change in patients with cleft lip/palate.
Highlights
The Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) is an instrument designed to measure the self-reported oral health-related quality of life of children between the ages of 8 and 15, including domains for oral health, functional well-being, social-emotional well-being, school environment and self-image
The COHIP has been used to measure significant change in often assumed byOral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) for children receiving surgery for cleft lip/palate, statistically significant change may not adequately assess whether a clinical intervention has a qualitative impact on the patient
Analyses from this study do not evaluate the effects of surgical interventions for cleft lip/palate
Summary
The Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) is an instrument designed to measure the self-reported oral health-related quality of life of children between the ages of 8 and 15, including domains for oral health, functional well-being, social-emotional well-being, school environment and self-image. Most children with cleft have multiple surgeries before they complete treatment and/or reach adulthood, yet little is known about the long-term effects of these interventions on patient-reported outcomes such as quality of life. While there are multiple OHRQoL measures available for patient assessment in oral health, the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP) was designed for children aged 8–15 years with applicability to a. The COHIP has been used to measure significant change in OHRQoL for children receiving surgery for cleft lip/palate, statistically significant change may not adequately assess whether a clinical intervention has a qualitative impact on the patient. The minimally important difference (MID), defined as “the smallest difference in score in the domain of interest which participants perceive as beneficial” [5, 7], can be used as a complementary, subjective tool for clinical assessment of meaningful improvement in patients [8,9,10,11]
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