Correction: Oral Community Health Worker-Led Interventions in Households With Average Levels of Psychosocial Factors

Helen H. Lee^1*David M. Avenetti²Yuwa Edomwande¹Vyshiali Sundararajan¹Liyong Cui¹Michael Berbaum¹Rachel Nordgren¹Anna Sandoval¹Molly Martin¹

• ¹University of Illinois Chicago, Institute for Health Research and Policy, Chicago, United States
• ²University of Illinois Chicago College of Dentistry, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Chicago, United States

Contribution to the Field Statement: Since publication, we discovered an error in scale calculation regarding the PROMIS Social functioning variable. Recorded scores were incorrectly inverted, resulting in the final calculated scores reflecting the opposite direction of what was intended. When rerun using the correct scoring, the analysis results including this variable did not change. Our corrections are to correct the actual values reported in Table 2 and Figure 3. Caregiver psychosocial factors, such as depression or anxiety, can influence a child’s toothbrushing behaviors and possibly their oral health. In a clinical trial we did not find that community health workers (CHWs) impacted children’s toothbrushing behaviors. To better understand those results, we tested if our study participants reported any changes in psychosocial factors over time and if those changes were related to interacting with CHWs. Our study participants reported unchanging and predominantly average levels of psychosocial stress using validated instruments, which did not vary with exposure to CHWs. In their interactions with families however, CHWs observed stress related to poverty, lack of social support, immigration status, and language barriers. Our findings support testing CHW interventions that focus on social determinants of health in order to impact children’s oral health behaviors.