Responsiveness to change of the Malay‐ECOHIS following treatment of early childhood caries under general anaesthesia

Objectives To evaluate the sensitivity and responsiveness of the Malay version of Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (Malay‐ECOHIS) to dental treatment of early childhood caries (ECC) under general anaesthesia (GA) and determine the minimally important difference (MID) for the Malay‐ECOHIS. Methods A sample of 158 preschool children with ECC awaiting dental treatment under GA was recruited over an 8‐month period. Parents self‐completed the Malay‐ECOHIS before and 4 weeks after their child's dental treatment. At 4 weeks follow‐up, parents also responded to a global health transition judgement item. Data were analysed using independent and paired samples t tests, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficients. Results The response rate was 87.3%. The final sample comprised 76 male (55.1%) and 62 female (44.9%) preschool children with mean age of 4.5 (SD = 1.0) years. Following treatment, there were significant reductions in mean scores for total Malay‐ECOHIS, child impact section (CIS), family impact section (FIS) and all domains, respectively (P