Developing A New Self-Reported Scale for Measuring Self Esteem in 3-5 Year Old Semi-Urban Indian Children

Background: Self reported scale is more apt to measure self-esteem and oral health related quality of life of children.Only three scales measure OHRQoL in preschool children of which two rely on parental proxies. Aim: To develop a new self-reported scale for measuring self esteem in 3-5 year old semi-urban Indian children Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted on sixty co-operative 3-5 year old children affected by early childhood caries or traumatic dental injuries. These children were equally divided into 3 groups according to their age as 3, 4 and 5 years old. The scale based questionnaire was administered separately to children and parents while the information about socio-demographic status was collected from parents Results: All the 3-5 year old children except one 3-year old were able to answer questions about their own oral health. Pearson’s coefficient demonstrated excellent correlation (p ˂ 0.01) between responses of children and their parents. Conclusion: Early childhood caries and traumatic dental injuries play a significant role in children’s OHRQoL. Children as young as 3-5 years have self-esteem and they not only perceive their own OHRQoL but are also able to communicate the same validly when age appropriate scale is used.