Application value of Likert scale scoring method in children′s psychological assessment before cone beam CT examination

Objective To explore the influence of different mental status (evaluated by Likert scale) on the first success rate, image artifacts and examination time of cone beam CT (CBCT) in infants and young children. Methods Prospective analysis of children aged 1-6 years (98 cases) who underwent CBCT examination, before the examination, the children were scored in seven aspects: activity, adaptability, attention, mood, gender, age and parents′ attitude, and the total score was calculated, The total score was used as the test variable, and the success rate of the first examination, the artifact of the image and whether the examination time was longer than 2 minutes were used as the state variable. Using SPSS 16.0 to draw the ROC curve, the area under curve (AUC), significance, maximum Yoden′s index and their corresponding diagnostic (evaluation) critical values were obtained. Results The success rate of the first examination was 78.6%(77/98), the AUC was 0.949 ± 0.025, the significance P < 0.05, the maximum Yoden′s index was 0.766, the corresponding critical value of diagnosis (evaluation) was 15; the artifact-free rate was 67.3%(66/98), the AUC was 0.873±0.038, the significance P < 0.05, the maximum Yoden′s index was 0.549, and the corresponding critical value of diagnosis (evaluation) was 15; the proportion of examination time in 2 minutes was 80.6%(79/98), the AUC was 0.854 ± 0.039, the significant P < 0.05, the maximum Yoden′s index was 0.614, and the corresponding critical value of diagnosis (evaluation) was 14. Conclusions The Likert scale scoring method based on Thomas′s temperament analysis theory has certain application value in the psychological evaluation of children before cone-beam CT examination. For children whose total score is greater than or equal to 14, sedation or psychological counseling should be carried out before examination in order to effectively improve the success rate of examination and reduce the occurrence rate of artifacts in images, further more to reduce radiation dosage and increase the examination circulation of CBCT in children. Key words: Children; Temperament; Likert scale evaluation; Cone beam CT