Aim: To derive from a validated questionnaire a periodontal screening score (PESS), intended as a user-friendly tool to identify individuals at risk of periodontitis in epidemiological studies.
Methods: A French 12-item self-reported questionnaire was developed by translating English questions previously used for periodontitis screening and surveillance. After a cognitive evaluation, the questionnaire was validated in a sample of 232 individuals (mean age: 46.1 ± 12.6 years) receiving full-mouth periodontal examination, including probing pocket depth and clinical attachment level recordings. Case definition was based on the American Academy of Periodontology/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria. Logistic regression analyses and C-statistics were used to assess the validity and accuracy of the questionnaire and to develop the PESS.
Results: The sample was constituted of 109 individuals with severe periodontitis, who were compared with 123 individuals with no/moderate periodontitis. The questionnaire had moderate-to-high accuracy in identifying severe cases; the PESS (calculated on five self-report items, age, and smoking) showed a sensitivity of 78.9% and a specificity of 74.8%, with an area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.821.
Conclusion: The PESS represents a valuable and accurate tool to screen for severe periodontitis at the population level.
Keywords: cognitive evaluation; diagnosis; periodontal screening score; periodontitis; questionnaire; screening; sensitivity; specificity; validation.
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