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A cárie dentária é uma doença ainda considerada um problema de saúde pública mundial que, se não tratada, tem consequências negativas para a saúde geral e a qualidade de vida dos indivíduos, em especial para as crianças. Com referência ao controle/tratamento da doença no contexto da Odontologia minimamente invasiva, a literatura aponta uma variedade de produtos e intervenções com essa finalidade, tais como o tratamento restaurador atraumático, os selantes, e os produtos com fluoreto nas suas mais diferentes formas, incluindo nestes, o diamino fluoreto de prata (DFP). Este, trata-se de uma intervenção promissora para o tratamento das lesões de cárie, visto que é economicamente acessível, de fácil aplicação, seguro, indolor e pode ser empregado em larga escala. Os atributos mencionados anteriormente tornam o DFP passível de amplo uso em saúde pública. Desta forma, o objetivo deste estudo transversal foi identificar o conhecimento e a utilização do DFP entre cirurgiões-dentistas do estado do Paraná, Brasil. Para tanto, no período de agosto a outubro de 2021, com amostragem intencional, a coleta de dados se deu por meio de questionário via Google® Formulários para 100 profissionais, disponibilizado por meio de um aplicativo de comunicação telefônica. A ferramenta contava com 22 perguntas objetivas que tratavam de aspectos demográficos, formação profissional e utilização do material em questão. Os dados foram tabulados no Microsoft Excel® e analisados em SPSS® versão 25.0. Foram aplicados os testes de t de Student e Qui-quadrado. Valores de p < 0,05 foram considerados com diferença estatisticamente significativa. Participaram 60 cirurgiões-dentistas (taxa de resposta = 60%). As mulheres compuseram 91,7% da amostra total e a média de tempo de formação de 15,9 (± 11,7) anos. Participantes com maior média de tempo de formação (19,8 ± 1,9 anos) afirmaram utilizar mais o DFP quando comparados aos formados há menos tempo (p = 0,01). Diferença estatisticamente significativa (p = 0,02) também foi encontrada com relação ao local de trabalho, pois aqueles que atuam no serviço público utilizam mais o material. Um total de 27 (45,0%) se manifestou positivamente quanto à utilização do DFP, entretanto foi observada uma diversidade de respostas referentes ao conhecimento do uso e das indicações do DFP. Mais de 40% dos respondentes não sabem qual é a concentração mais indicada do produto e 77,8% o indicam apenas para crianças. Ainda, 70,4% removem tecido amolecido antes de aplicar o DFP. Quanto às vantagens do DFP, destacaram-se a ação bactericida/bacteriostática apontada por 74,1% dos respondentes e a não necessidade de intervenções mais invasivas (55,6%). Houve unanimidade ao ser mencionada a questão estética como o maior fator que limita a indicação do tratamento com DFP. Concluiu-se que o conhecimento em relação à utilização do DFP entre os cirurgiões-dentistas, aqui investigados, é deficitário, o que reforça a necessidade de ações de educação continuada e o desenvolvimento de protocolos de utilização, o que pode favorecer o incremento do uso desse material. Dental caries is a disease still considered a global public health problem that, if left untreated, has negative consequences for the overall health and quality of life of individuals, especially children. With reference to disease control/treatment in the context of minimally invasive dentistry, the literature points to a variety of products and interventions for this purpose, such as Atraumatic Restorative Treatment, sealants, fluoride products in their various forms, and also silver diamine fluoride (DFP). This is a promising intervention for the treatment of caries lesions, since it is affordable, easy to apply, safe, painless and can be used in large scale. The attributes make DFP amenable to wide use in public health. Thus, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify the knowledge and use of the DFP among dental surgeons in the state of Paraná, Brazil. To this end, in the period from August to October 2021, with intentional sampling, data collection took place through a questionnaire via Google® Forms for 100 professionals, made available through a telephone communication application. The tool had 22 objective questions that dealt with demographic aspects, professional training and use of the material in question. Data were tabulated in Microsoft Excel® and analyzed in SPSS® version 25.0. Student's t test and Chi-square were applied. Values of p < 0.05 were considered a statistically significant difference. Sixty dental surgeons participated (response rate = 60%). Women comprised 91.7% of the total sample and the mean length of training was 15.9 (± 11.7) years. Participants with longer average training time (19.8 ± 1.9 years) claimed to use the DFP more when compared to those who had trained less time (p = 0.01). A statistically significant difference (p = 0.02) was also found regarding the place of work, since those who work in the public service use the material more. A total of 27 (45.0%) were positive about the use of the DFP, however, a diversity of answers regarding knowledge of the use and indications of the DFP was observed. More than 40% of the respondents do not know which is the most indicated concentration of the product, and 77.8% indicate it only for children. Furthermore, 70.4% remove softened tissue before applying the DFP. As for the advantages of the DFP, the bactericidal/cariostatic action was mentioned by 74.1% of the respondents and the fact that there is no need for more invasive interventions (55.6%). There was unanimity when the aesthetic issue was mentioned as the biggest factor limiting the indication of treatment with DFP. It was concluded that the knowledge about the use of DFP among the dentists investigated here is deficient, which reinforces the need for continued education actions and the development of utilization protocols, which may favor the increase of the use of this material.

Supplemental material, Appendix_PDF for Testing the Local Independence Assumption of the Rasch Model With Q3-Based Nonparametric Model Tests by Rudolf Debelak and Ingrid Koller in Applied Psychological Measurement

The valid measurement of latent constructs is crucial for psychological research. Here, we present a mixed-methods procedure for improving the precision of construct definitions, determining the content validity of items, evaluating the representativeness of items for the target construct, generating test items, and analyzing items on a theoretical basis. To illustrate the mixed-methods content-scaling-structure (CSS) procedure, we analyze the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory, a self-report measure of wisdom (ASTI, Levenson et al., 2005). A content-validity analysis of the ASTI items was used as the basis of psychometric analyses using multidimensional item response models (N = 1215). We found that the new procedure produced important suggestions concerning five subdimensions of the ASTI that were not identifiable using exploratory methods. The study shows that the application of the suggested procedure leads to a deeper understanding of latent constructs. It also demonstrates the advantages of theory-based item analysis.

The National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) investigates the development of competences across the life span and develops tests for the assessment of different competence domains. In order to evaluate the quality of the competence tests, a range of analyses based on item response theory (IRT) are performed. This paper describes the data and scaling procedure for the reading competence test in grade 7 of starting cohort 3 (fifth grade). The reading competence test contained 42 items (distributed among an easy and a difficult booklet) with different response formats representing different cognitive requirements and text functions. The test was administered to 6,194 students. Their responses were scaled using the partial credit model. Item fit statistics, differential item functioning, Rasch-homogeneity, the test`s dimensionality, and local item independence were evaluated to ensure the quality of the test. These analyses showed that the test exhibited an acceptable reliability and that the items fitted the model in a satisfactory way. Furthermore, test fairness could be confirmed for different subgroups. Limitations of the test were the large percentage of items at the end of the difficult test that were not reached due to time limits and minor differential item functioning between the easy and difficult test version for some items. Overall, the reading competence test had acceptable psychometric properties that allowed for an estimation of reliable reading competence scores. Besides the scaling results, this paper also describes the data in the Scientific Use File and presentes the ConQuest syntax for scaling the data., NEPS Survey Papers

This document is a supplementary text to "An Empirical Power Analysis of Quasi-Exact Tests for the Rasch Model: Measurement Invariance in Small Samples" by Koller, Maier, & Hatzinger (to be published in Methodology, ISSN-L 1614-1881), which covers all technical details regarding the simulation and its results. First, the simulation scenarios and the introduction of differential item functioning (DIF) are described. Next, the different populations' distributions that were investigated are discussed, and finally, actual type-I-error rates and empirical power are displayed for all simulated scenarios. (authors' abstract), Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

The National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) aims to investigate the development of competencies across the whole life span. It also develops tests for assessing the different competence domains. In order to evaluate the quality of the competence tests, a wide range of analyses have been performed based on Item Response Theory (IRT). This paper describes the data and results of reanalyzing the adult reading competence test. The adult reading test was first administered in the main study 2010/11. In 2012, the same test was administered to a refreshment sample, that is, it was presented to subjects who had not taken the test in the first study. As in the main study of 2010/2011, the reading competence test for the adult cohort consisted of 32 items, which represented different cognitive requirements and text functions and used different response formats. The test was administered to 3,156 persons. Because this paper describes the reanalysis of an existing reading competence test in NEPS, the detailed description of the test and the scaling procedure are given in the NEPS Working Paper No. 25 (see Hardt, Pohl, Haberkorn, & Wiegand, 2013). Thus, the description in the present paper is kept as short as possible. After reporting descriptive statistics of the data, the partial credit model was applied to investigate the quality of the scale. The results showed that the test exhibits high reliability and that the items fit the model. Moreover, measurement invariance could be confirmed for various subgroups. Dimensionality analyses showed that the different cognitive requirements foster a unidimensional construct, and there is some evidence for multidimensionality based on text functions. It should benoted that a considerable amount of items were not reached by the test takers within the given assessment time and that many items were targeted toward a lower reading ability. Altogether, as in the main study 2010/2011, the results show good psychometric properties of the reading competence test and support the estimation of a reliable reading competence score. Furthermore, measurement invariance between the two main studies could be confirmed. Therefore, the competence scores for the main study 2012 were estimated with fixed item parameters from the main study 2010/11 in order to place the subjects of the two studies on the same scale. At the end of the paper, the data available in the Scientific Use File are described and the ConQuest-Syntax for scaling the data is provided., NEPS Working Papers