Who knows more about the impact of malocclusion on children's quality of life, mothers or fathers?

Abstract

Shared decision making between children and parents is required in orthodontics. This study compared agreement among mothers, fathers, and children regarding the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of children. A sample of 71 child patients (41 girls and 30 boys) aged 12.6 years with an orthodontic treatment need, together with both their parents completed components of the child OHRQoL measure. Agreement among children, mothers, and fathers was derived from the 31 analogous questions and assessed using comparison and correlation analyses. Comparison analyses identified significant differences between mother's and children's reports and between father's and children's reports. The magnitude of the difference between mother's and children's reports, and between father's and children's reports could best be described as moderate (standard difference >0.2). In addition, absolute differences in scores constituted between 12 and 18 per cent of domain and overall scores for both mother's and children's, and father's and children's reports. Correlation analysis, at the individual family unit level, showed that agreement between mothers and children, and between fathers and children was fair [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) < 0.04]. Neither mothers nor fathers know their child's oral health status very well, as there was significant disagreement between mothers', fathers', and children's perceptions. The disagreement between mothers and children, and fathers and children was similar. While at the group level, mothers and fathers tended to agree on perception of their children's oral health status, at an individual family unit level they did not.