Validation of an Oral Health Pamphlet for Children and Adolescents with Chronic Kidney Disease

Abstract

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are candidates for kidney transplantation and therefore the presence of any source of infection must be avoided. Consequently, awareness to maintain oral health is very important for these patients. The aim of this study was to validate the contents of a pamphlet dealing with the subject of oral health for children and adolescents with CKD. The pamphlet was elaborated by a team of Pediatric Dentists at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil. Validation was carried out in 4 stages: 1) evaluation of the technical content by 8 university professors in the field of Pediatric Dentistry and 6 researchers in the area of renal diseases. At this stage, replacement of some terms and inclusion of new topics, such as the use of fluoride toothpaste, were suggested; 2) the suitability of communication and language was evaluated by 2 experts in the Educational area and the adequacy of language for the age group and the general interest in the subject raised by the pamphlet was assessed; 3) 14 adolescents without CKD were asked to evaluate it, of these 12 considered the pamphlet “good”, but recommended that the black and white figures were changed to color ones, without any other changes; 4) 4 caretakers responsible for children and 2 adolescents with CKD were asked for their opinions and all 6 participants rated the pamphlet as “very good” and 5 had not been aware that poor oral health could delay a transplant operation. After qualitative analysis of the results, alterations considered relevant were included in the final version of the pamphlet. The validation process was considered important to enhance the content and organization of the pamphlet, making it clearer for the understanding of children and adolescents with CKD.