Effect of Modified Dental Visual Aids on Behavior Management During Dental Treatment in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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There is a need to find an approach that is appropriate for managing children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the dental clinic, to manage their behaviour and decrease their anxiety in this research we will apply our modified dental visual aids and test its effectiveness in managing the behavior of such children during the dental appointment.

Official Title
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Effect of Modified Dental Visual Aids on Behavior Management During Dental Treatment in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Conditions
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Child Autism

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Modified dental visual aids
* Other: Regular dental visual aids


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Patient age between 6-10 years. Child patient has to represent the typical triad symptoms of ASD that include: social interaction deficits, communication impairment, language impairment and rigidity of interests. Child patient with ASD diagnosis confirmed in the patient's files according to the DSM-V criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Child patient with mild to moderate ASD according to the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) (Schopler et al., 1998). Exclusion Criteria: Patient age younger than 6 years and older than 10 years. Child patient with other congenital anomalies, for example, Cerebral Palsy or Down Syndrome. Child patient with previous dental experience. Child patient with severe ASD according to the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) (Schopler et al., 1998).

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 6 Years
Maximum Age: 10 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Modified dental visual aids<br> | Other: Modified dental visual aids<br>* Modified Dental visual aids in the form of pictures created by the main investigator<br>|
| Active Comparator: Regular dental visual aids<br> | Other: Regular dental visual aids<br>* Regular dental visual aids<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Plaque Index Scoring | plaque index scoring (Silness and Löe, 1964) | four weeks | 
| Anxiety Scale for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASC-ASD) | This scale contains twenty-four self-report questions that inquire about anxiety, it contains 4 sub-scales including: Separation Anxiety (SA). Uncertainty (U). Performance Anxiety (PA). Anxious Arousal (AA). It is a four-point Likert-scale; items in the questionnaire are rated from zero (never) to three (always). Another version of the same scale with twenty-four questions directed to the parents will also be used and it contains a report of their child's symptoms of anxiety, within the same four subscales (Rodgers et al., 2016). | four weeks | 
| The Observational Scale of Behavioral Distress (OSBD) | This scale is used to measure the behavioral distress that a child experiences when undergoing a painful procedure. This scale is composed of eight operationally defined behaviors that are indicative of anxiety and/or pain behavior in children. The OSBD is a valid and reliable scale that measures distress in children receiving painful procedures in the medical and dental practice, for example, venipuncture and needle injections (Elliot et al., 1987). | four weeks |