Rediscovering Motivational Interviewing Spirit: Working with Patients Receiving Hemodialysis in the HOPE Consortium Trial

Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology · 2026-04-08

Intergenerational Dental Fear and Anxiety: Children's Pattern of Dental Service Use

Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology · 2026-02-11 · 1 citations

OBJECTIVES: Dental care-related fear and anxiety, involving emotional reactions to dental situations, can negatively impact children's quality of life, oral and systemic health. Recognising maternal characteristics as key determinants of child health, this study examined the intergenerational relationship between dental fear/anxiety and early childhood dental service utilisation. METHODS: Data were drawn from the baseline (birth), 12-month, and four-year follow-ups of the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study (Brazil). Outcomes included child dental fear/anxiety and dental service use (frequency and reasons) at age four. Exposures were maternal dental fear/anxiety at 12-month and maternal assessment of child dental fear/anxiety. Covariates, including maternal education and family income, were collected perinatally. All variables were obtained through questionnaires administered to mothers at each follow-up. Analyses used Poisson and multinomial logistic regression models. RESULTS: The sample included 3809 mother-child dyads; 79.7% of mothers and 64.2% of children had no reported dental fear/anxiety, yet 64.0% of children had never visited a dentist. Adjusted analyses showed that maternal dental fear/anxiety was associated with a 1.20 times higher prevalence of childhood dental fear/anxiety (PR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.09; 1.32). Children with dental fear/anxiety had a 1.89 times higher prevalence of visits for curative reasons (PR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.45; 2.48) and a 2.10 times higher prevalence of never visiting a dentist (PR = 2.10, 95% CI = 1.78; 2.48), adjusting for maternal dental fear/anxiety. CONCLUSION: Early and regular preventive visits may help mitigate dental fear/anxiety. This study highlights the intergenerational link between maternal and childhood dental fear and its impact on dental service utilisation.

Patient-generated Values and Goals During a Remotely-delivered Pain Coping Skills Training for People with Chronic Pain Receiving Maintenance Hemodialysis

Journal of Pain · 2025-04-01

Internalized stigma mediates the relationship between pelvic pain severity and both depression and anxiety in women with chronic pelvic pain

Women s Health · 2025-06-24 · 3 citations

BACKGROUND: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP, i.e., pain related to the abdomen) disproportionately affects women, with about one in four women experiencing CPP worldwide. CPP has been found to be associated with numerous poor mental health outcomes (e.g., depression and anxiety). Prior research has indicated associations between CPP and stigma, yet much of this research has been qualitative. OBJECTIVES: The present study builds on that literature by quantitatively exploring associations between CPP severity and both depression and anxiety sensitivity, as well as exploring the moderating role of internalized stigma. DESIGN: Quantitative, cross-sectional design. METHODS: A sample of 241 adult women with CPP from the United States completed a series of questionnaires via an online survey. Hierarchical linear regression models and moderation analyses were used to determine associations among the variables of interest (i.e., CPP, depression, anxiety sensitivity, and internalized stigma). RESULTS: < 0.001). These associations were moderated by internalized stigma, such that the effects of depression and anxiety sensitivity on CPP severity were stronger in women who reported more internalized stigma. CONCLUSION: Clinical implications are that providers treating women with pelvic pain should screen them for emotional distress (e.g., depression and anxiety) and intervene and/or refer them as appropriate. Future work should continue to explore the role of internalized stigma in women with CPP, as well as explore potential interventions aimed at reducing stigma.

Genetic susceptibility to oral and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases based on dental and heart SCORE studies

Scientific Reports · 2025-09-26

Periodontal disease and dental caries are two oral conditions that have been associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). However, it is unclear if one of the key mechanisms involved in this association could be a shared genetic susceptibility. The goal of this study was to explore whether there is an intersection of genetic loci among individuals with comprehensive oral examinations and subclinical ASCVD screenings. We leveraged data from oral and medical examinations obtained from the Dental and Heart Strategies Concentrating on Risk Evaluation (Dental/Heart SCORE) projects. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) were performed independently in 552 participants (aged 45-75 years). The decayed, missing, or filled teeth index (DMFT) and periodontal disease indices were used to reflect oral conditions; coronary artery calcium scores (CAC) and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) were analyzed as subclinical ASCVD traits. Single nucleotide variant (SNV) associations with oral and ASCVD traits were found; however, there were only a few regions of suggestive genetic loci overlap between these conditions. The most robust associations found for each phenotype are as follows: DMFT with rs79198416 (near CDC73/KCNT2; p = 7.57E-07), periodontal disease with rs73870587 (DIPK2A, p = 7.38E-08); CIMT with rs113152669 (LRP1B p = 4.07E-07), and CAC with rs76676138 (CNTNAP2; p = 2.47E-19). Although genetic associations were identified for each of the phenotypes of interest in the GWASs, there were no regions of shared genetic loci that significantly intersected across phenotypes. Thus, our results suggest that incorporation of environmental, behavioral, microbiome-related factors, and larger sample sizes, are warranted in future studies between oral and cardiovascular health.

Cross‐Sectional Clinical Validation of the Periodontal Disease Self‐Report Measure

Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology · 2025-04-07 · 1 citations

ABSTRACT Background The Periodontal Disease Self Report (PDSR) measure was originally created and psychometrically validated using a nationwide sample via online data collection. No clinical parameters were included in the prior validation of the PDSR. Thus, this study evaluated potential evidence for the clinical validity of the measure by examining associations between the PDSR scores and various clinical parameters obtained from a new sample of participants in which full‐mouth periodontal examinations were conducted. Methods Adults from a community sample ( n = 114) provided demographic information, responded to the PDSR measure and received a full‐mouth clinical periodontal examination. Individual self‐report items, subscale scores and total scores obtained from the PDSR were evaluated against clinical parameters of periodontitis. Regression models and receiver operating characteristic statistics were also utilised to test the ability of the PDSR to predict clinical outcomes. Results PDSR total scores were positively correlated with mean probing depth ( r = 0.50, p &lt; 0.01) and mean clinical attachment loss ( r = 0.52, p &lt; 0.01). After accounting for common risk factors in periodontal disease, the PDSR predicted mean probing depth ( β = 0.45, 95% CI: 0.02–0.04; Δ R 2 = 0.19). The area under the curve for the PDSR scores distinguishing between CDC/AAP no/mild periodontitis and moderate/severe periodontitis categories was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.62–0.81). Conclusions Clinical data support the use of the PDSR measure as a screening tool for periodontal disease. Additionally, the PDSR may offer added utility compared to other measures due to less reliance on information obtained via clinical encounters.

Pain, Fear, Anxiety, and Stress: Relations to the Endogenous Opioid System

Advances in neurobiology · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

Adapting a pain coping skills training intervention for people with chronic pain receiving maintenance hemodialysis for end stage Kidney disease

Journal of Behavioral Medicine · 2024-12-03 · 1 citations

Identifying Symptom Clusters and Associated Social Determinants of Health in Patients with ESKD and Chronic Pain: A Secondary Analysis of the HOPE Trial

Journal of the American Society of Nephrology · 2024-10-01

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Arabic version of the oral health values scale

Acta Odontologica Scandinavica · 2024-08-26 · 1 citations

AIMS: The study aimed to adapt the original English-language oral health values scale (OHVS) to the Arabic culture and to test its psychometric properties. METHODS: The original OHVS was translated into Arabic language and pre-tested using cognitive interviewing. The psychometric properties of Arabic OHVS were examined in a sample comprising 416 Libyan adults aged 18-70 years, recruited from the main public and private dental clinics in Benghazi. The participants' demographic information, oral health behaviour, perceived oral health, the Arabic version of the OHVS (A-OHVS), dental neglect scale, oral health-related quality of life, oral health literacy, simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S), and decayed, missing, and filled teeth index (DMFT) were collected. Psychometric properties were tested using content validity, construct validity, discriminating validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and floor as well as ceiling effects were examined. RESULTS: The Arabic OHVS was successfully and smoothly developed. It showed an acceptable level of equivalence to the original version, The A-OHVS presented an overall Cronbach's Alpha of 0.74 and the average score was 40.02, ranging between 26 and 54. All hypotheses predefined to test construct validity were confirmed. The bivariate correlation between A-OHVS and other health indicators shows a significant positive correlation between A-OHVS and oral health literacy (p = 0.000). On the other hand, statistically significant negative correlations were observed between A-OHVS and dental neglect and quality of life (p ≤ 0.001) as well as DMFT and OHI-S (p ≤ 0.001). Floor or ceiling effects were not observed. CONCLUSIONS: The A-OHVS was shown to be a valid and reliable tool for assessing oral health values in the Arabic-speaking population.