Evaluating the harmonization potential of oral health-related questionnaires in national longitudinal birth and child cohort surveys

Background/Objectives

Effective use of longitudinal study data is challenging because of divergences in the construct definitions and measurement approaches over time, between studies and across disciplines. One approach to overcome these challenges is data harmonization. Data harmonization is a practice used to improve variable comparability and reduce heterogeneity across studies. This study describes the process used to evaluate the harmonization potential of oral health-related variables across each survey wave.

Methods

National child cohort surveys with similar themes/objectives conducted in the last two decades were selected. The Maelstrom Research Guidelines were followed for harmonization potential evaluation.

Results

Seven nationally representative child cohort surveys were included and questionnaires examined from 50 survey waves. Questionnaires were classified into three domains and fifteen constructs and summarized by age groups. A DataSchema (a list of core variables representing the suitable version of the oral health outcomes and risk factors) was compiled comprising 42 variables. For each study wave, the potential (or not) to generate each DataSchema variable was evaluated. Of the 2100 harmonization status assessments, 543 (26%) were complete. Approximately 50% of the DataSchema variables can be generated across at least four cohort surveys while only 10% (n = 4) variables can be generated across all surveys. For each survey, the DataSchema variables that can be generated ranged between 26% and 76%.

Conclusion

Data harmonization can improve the comparability of variables both within and across surveys. For future cohort surveys, the authors advocate more consistency and standardization in survey questionnaires within and between surveys.