National Study of Adult Oral Health 2017-18: participation and representativeness.

The National Study of Adult Oral Health (NSAOH) 2017-18 collected information from a sample of the Australian population aged 15 years and over. The Study comprised an interview questionnaire, completed by telephone or online, and an oral epidemiological examination among dentate participants. Participation in the Study was voluntary and therefore relied on the goodwill of selected participants. This paper provides a summary of participation rates for the Interview and Examination phases of the study. The potential for biased population estimates due to variation in participation rates is explored. The weighting procedure implemented to ensure the sample is representative of the target population is described and a comparison of the estimated population distributions derived from the weighted sample and the actual population distributions is provided for a range of socioeconomic characteristics. In summary, it can be concluded that estimates derived from the weighted Interview and Examination samples are valid estimates of the Australian population aged 15 years and over.

National Study of Adult Oral Health 2017-18: Study design and methods.

The National Study of Adult Oral Health (NSAOH) is Australia's third national oral examination survey of a representative sample of Australian adults. The study was undertaken primarily to describe levels of oral health in the population and to describe trends since the first survey, conducted in 1987-88. The aim of the study was to complete 7,200 examinations, necessitating approximately 15,200 completed interviews. Survey participants were selected using a multi-stage probability sampling design that began with the sampling of postcodes within states/territories in Australia. Individuals within selected postcodes were then selected by the Australian Government Department of Human Services (DHS) from the Medicare database. Following an initial opt-out period, participants were given the option to either complete the questionnaire online or to complete the questionnaire via a computer-assisted telephone interview. Participants were asked a series of questions about their oral health and dental service use and those who reported having one or more of their own natural teeth were invited to undergo a standardised oral examination. Examinations were conducted by state/territory dental practitioners who underwent prior training and calibration in survey procedures by the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH), The University of Adelaide.