NOHSS Child Indicators – 1998
Methods for State Oral Health Surveys that began data collection in 1998
Updated January 21, 2015
Maine
The survey was conducted during the 1998-1999 school year. Maine was divided into six regions based on information provided by a staff epidemiologist in the Department of Human Services. Elementary schools within each region were randomly selected from the 1997-1998 list of public elementary schools. The sample within each region was proportional to the number of enrolled students in the region making the final sample self-weighting. All children in kindergarten and 3rd grade within selected schools were included in the sample. The planned sample size was approximately 15 percent of the 1997-1998 school year kindergarten and 3rd grade enrollment. The diagnostic criteria were comparable to ASTDD’s 1999 Basic Screening Survey. Of the children selected, 59% of the kindergartners and 51% of the 3rd graders participated in the survey. Of participating children, 30% of the kindergartners and 31.2% of the 3rd graders were eligible for the free/reduced lunch program, which was similar to the 32% of 3rd graders eligible for free/reduced lunch statewide. The estimates were not adjusted for nonresponse.
Pennsylvania
The survey was conducted over a 2-year period from July 1, 1998, to June 30, 2000. The survey was drawn from a sample of Pennsylvania public schoolchildren which is representative at the state and the six health district levels. The sample design was a probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) selection of school districts from the public school systems. Children in grades 1, 3, 9, and 11 were screened. Each of the five examiners was trained and calibrated and the intra- and inter-examiner agreement of all clinical measures was 90%. Positive parental consent was used. Diagnostic criteria were comparable to ASTDD’s 1999 Basic Screening Survey. The data were weighted to account for the survey design and were adjusted for nonresponse.