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Objective: This study aimed to test the predictive validity of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) when applied to the oral health-related behaviours of parents towards their preschool children in a cross-sectional and prospective design over a 5-year interval. Methods: Data for this study were obtained from parents of 1,057 children born between October 2003 and July 2004 in two regions in Flanders, Belgium. Three behaviours related to oral health (dietary habits, oral hygiene habits, dental attendance) as well as their psychological determinants based on the TPB (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control (PBC), intention) were measured using validated self-report questionnaires when the children were 0 (2003-2004), 3 (February-June 2007) and 5 years old (March-June 2009). Results: Multiple linear regression analyses indicated cross-sectionally that the contribution of attitudes, subjective norms and PBC towards intention, and of intention and PBC towards the frequency of consumption of sugared snacks and drinks, tooth brushing and dental attendance was significant (p < 0.001). The combined determinants explained 27%-37% of the variance in intentions and 7%-39% of the variance in the behaviours. Across time, only parental PBC as measured at birth could significantly predict dietary and oral hygiene behaviours at children's ages 3 and 5 years. Conclusion: This study supports the validity of the TPB to predict intentions and oral health-related behaviours of parents of preschool children. Interventions should aim to improve parental attitudes towards diet and dental attendance, and their PBC towards tooth brushing.

The article discusses the study which analyzes the predictive validity of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) after being applied to behaviors of parents related to oral health towards their preschool children. The study involves parents of 1,057 children whose behaviors to psychological determinants and oral health were measured. Result shows the significance of the contribution of perceived behavioural control (PBC) and attitude towards intention and PBC towards consumption of snacks.

In Flanders, periodic hearing screening of school children is mandatory. Up to now, pure tone audiometry was routinely used for this purpose. However, the lack of optimal testing conditions, uniform test protocols and referral criteria prompt the need for alternative screening methodologies. Currently, the applicability of the Digit Triplet Test -- a quick, automated speech-in-noise adaptive self-test -- for large-scale hearing screening of 10 and 14 year old children is being evaluated. Pupils with an abnormal test result (based on initially set age-specific cut-off speech reception thresholds) are referred to an ENT specialist for expertise pure tone testing. The aim is to fine-tune the cut-off values for the purpose of a balanced referral and investigate test reliability. After 5 months, more than 6000 children have already been screened. According to current cut-offs, 5.5% (10y) and 5.1% (14y) were referred. Intrasubject measurement error was found to be very low in both groups (0.6 dB). Median SRTs were -9.9 dB SNR for the younger and -10.6 for the older children. Also, test duration shortens with age. ENT expertise audiograms from referrals will allow us to set uniform and accurate cut-off values in order to obtain the highest possible sensitivity to detect (minimal) hearing impairment. Due to the low measurement error, accurate follow-up is possible. Furthermore, the availability of an effective registration system for data storage will enable to link school age hearing screening results with data from previous screenings and provide insights into the prevalence of acquired hearing loss in school children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]