Performance of self-reported periodontitis questionnaire administered by community health workers

Objective: To evaluate the response and validity of a self-reported periodontal questionnaire administered by community health workers (CHWs) for severe periodontitis (SPER) screening. Methods: CHWs administered the CDC/AAP questionnaire in their communities. Participants underwent a complete periodontal examination. Based on these data, SPER was evaluated considering three definitions: CDC/AAP, EFP/AAP, and the presence of two sextants with probing depth (PD)≥ 6 mm. Questionnaire performance was analysed using the chi-square test and logistic regression with an assessment of sensitivity (SS), specificity (SP) and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: In total, 243 individuals completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of SPER was 47.3%. When SPER patients were compared with the controls (using the CDC/AAP criteria), significant differences in the means of interproximal clinical attachment loss and PD values were observed (p < 0.05). Responses to three of the eight questions, “having gum disease” (odds ratio [OR] = 2.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5-4.7), “general health of teeth and gums” (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.2-0.9) and “tooth mobility” (OR 2.6, 95% CI = 1.5-4.7) were associated with SPER (p < 0.05). In the regression analysis, the best models to predict SPER were those that included all the self-reported questions and all sociodemographic variables either using CDC/AAP definitions (SS = 69.7%, SP = 80.3, ROC= 0.806) or the presence of two sextants with PD≥ 6 mm (SS = 82.1%, SP = 69.2, ROC = 0.861). Concluding Remarks: The CDC/AAP Self-reported periodontal questionnaire administered by CHWs to screen individuals for severe periodontitis was effectively capable of screening patients with this disease.