Table 4.
Measures of validity for each diagnostic test by subgroup characteristic
| Characteristic | Non-response to cold | Pain on percussion | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | SN, % (95% CI) | SP, % (95 % CI) | N | SN, % (95% CI) | SP, % (95 % CI) | ||
| Demographic | |||||||
| Age | < 50 years | 354 | 85 (78–91) | 85 (79–89) | 357 | 76 (69–83) | 39 (33–46) |
| ≥ 50 years | 347 | 92 (87–95) | 72 (64–79) | 349 | 68 (61–74) | 44 (36–53) | |
| Gender | Male | 287 | 93 (88–96) | 70 (61–78) | 289 | 69 (61–76) | 42 (34–51) |
| Female | 405 | 85 (79–90) | 85 (79–89) | 408 | 74 (67–80) | 40 (33–46) | |
| Socio-economic status (household income) | < $50,000 | 239 | 87 (80–93) | 81 (73–88) | 243 | 71 (62–79) | 44 (34–53) |
| ≥ $50,000 | 430 | 90 (85–94) | 80 (74–85) | 431 | 74 (67–79) | 38 (32–44) | |
| Race/ethnicity | White non-Hispanic/Latino | 600 | 88 (84–92) | 80 (75–84) | 602 | 70 (65–75) | 42 (36–47) |
| Other | 84 | 92 (78–98) | 79 (64–89) | 86 | 84 (69–94) | 38 (24–53) | |
| Patient/tooth related | |||||||
| Tooth type | Posterior tooth | 625 | 88 (83–91) | 79 (75–84) | 630 | 74 (68–78) | 42 (36–47) |
| Anterior tooth | 77 | 96 (88–100) | 82 (60–95) | 77 | 62 (48–75) | 36 (17–59) | |
| Tooth position | Upper jaw | 411 | 89 (84–92) | 83 (77–88) | 416 | 72 (65–77) | 40 (33–47) |
| Lower jaw | 291 | 90 (83–94) | 75 (68–82) | 291 | 72 (63–80) | 43 (36–51) | |
| Preoperative tooth paina | Pain | 500 | 85 (79–89) | 82 (77–86) | 505 | 85 (79–89) | 33 (28–39) |
| No pain | 183 | 97 (92–99) | 70 (58–81) | 183 | 47 (38–56) | 78 (66–88) | |
| Medications for tooth pain | Intake | 410 | 85 (79–90) | 80 (74–85) | 415 | 86 (80–90) | 34 (28–40) |
| No intake | 275 | 93 (88–97) | 77 (69–84) | 275 | 55 (46–63) | 55 (45–64) | |
| Persistent tooth painb | Pain | 137 | 83 (71–92) | 83 (73–91) | 139 | 88 (77–95) | 33 (23–44) |
| No pain | 555 | 90 (86–93) | 78 (73–83) | 558 | 68 (62–73) | 43 (37–49) | |
| Chronic wide-spread pain | Wide-spread pain | 201 | 86 (77–92) | 78 (68–85) | 205 | 78 (69–86) | 34 (25–44) |
| No wide-spread pain | 491 | 90 (86–94) | 80 (74–85) | 492 | 69 (62–74) | 43 (37–50) | |
| Fearfulness of dental appointment | Fearful | 446 | 88 (83–92) | 82 (76–86) | 451 | 74 (67–79) | 40 (33–46) |
| Not fearful | 251 | 91 (85–95) | 75 (66–82) | 251 | 69 (61–77) | 44 (35–54) | |
| Expectations of RCT outcome | Fair to good | 244 | 87 (80–93) | 85 (78–91) | 247 | 73 (63–80) | 39 (30–48) |
| Very good | 454 | 90 (85–93) | 76 (70–82) | 456 | 72 (65–77) | 42 (36–49) | |
| Dentist-related | |||||||
| Dentist training level | General practitioner | 292 | 86 (79–91) | 66 (57–73) | 294 | 75 (67–82) | 36 (28–44) |
| Endodontist | 410 | 91 (86–95) | 89 (84–93) | 413 | 69 (62–76) | 45 (38–52) | |
| Overall | 702 | 89 (85–92) | 80 (75–84) | 707 | 72 (67–76) | 41 (36–47) | |
The effect of patient- and tooth-related factors and dentist education level on sensitivity (SN) and specificity (SP) for non-response on cold testing and pain on tooth percussion. The reference standard was absence of bleeding within the pulp chamber, prevalence 49%. N= number of patients per group.
Significant between-group difference at the 5% level were marked bold.
a
Preoperative tooth pain was defined as pain with intensity >0 (0–10 scale) for ≥1 days in the preceding week
b
Persistent tooth pain was defined as preoperative pain present for >8h/day, >15 days/month and >3 months