Quality of Clinical Guidelines on Oral Care for Children with Special Healthcare Needs: A Systematic Review

Hamdan Alamri (), Falah R. Alshammari, Abdullah Bin Rahmah and Marwan Aljohani
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Hamdan Alamri: Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia
Falah R. Alshammari: Dental Public Health and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, University of Ha’il, Ha’il 55476, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Bin Rahmah: Department of Periodontics and Community Dentistry, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, Riyadh 11362, Saudi Arabia
Marwan Aljohani: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, Taibah University, Medina 42353, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Robust evidence-based guidelines are important in everyday clinical practice, especially when delivering and managing oral care needs to a vulnerable group such as children with special healthcare needs (SHCNs). Methods: To assess the quality of guidelines on the management of oral care for children with special healthcare needs (SHCNs) and to find appropriate guidelines, an electronic search of MEDLINE Ovid was carried out alongside an additional search of common guideline websites. The AGREE II tool was used to assess the quality of the guidelines. Assessment was undertaken independently by three assessors. Furthermore, the underlying evidence used to formulate recommendations in the identified guidelines was qualitatively assessed. Results: There were nine guidelines, with 41 recommendations, that met the eligibility criteria. The quality of the guidelines was generally found to be poor. Only one guideline was assessed as “recommended” by the assessors, based on the quality of the methods, the reporting, or both. Only 2 of the 41 sets of recommendations, made across the nine guidelines, were judged to be valid and based on a rigorous systematic review of the evidence. Conclusions: The current state of guidelines on oral care management for children with special healthcare needs (SHCNs) is, on the whole, of very low quality. The scientific community should work together to enhance the quality and strength of the current clinical guidelines and to ensure that they are trustworthy prior to implementation.

Keywords: evidence-based dentistry/healthcare; guidelines; the AGREE II tool; systemic review; children with disability; children with special healthcare needs (SHCNs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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