Physiological and Behavioral Stress and Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders during Routine Oral Care

Table 2

Differences in behavior and physiological distress variables.

Distress variable	TD; Mean ± SD	ASD; Mean ± SD	Effect size^a
Anxiety and Cooperation Scale (continuous)	0.45 ± 1.06	2.07 ± 1.59	1.3**
Children’s Dental Behavior Rating Scale (scale score)	34.69 (12.47)	47.31 (8.61)	1.1**
Skin conductance level^b
Baseline	4.39 ± 3.51	4.55 ± 2.87	0.1
Oral examination	4.14 ± 3.65	5.44 ± 3.77	0.3
Prophylaxis	4.35 ± 4.15	5.66 ± 3.96	0.4
Fluoride application	3.97 ± 4.22	6.24 ± 4.23	0.7*
Total dental cleaning (exam, prophylaxis, and fluoride)	4.22 ± 3.87	5.63 ± 3.85	0.40
Frequency of non-specific skin conductance responses
Baseline	5.60 ± 3.99	6.68 ± 3.64	0.4
Oral examination	3.03 ± 2.13	6.90 ± 4.48	1.1**
Prophylaxis	3.40 ± 3.10	5.90 ± 3.40	0.7*
Fluoride application	1.77 ± 2.76	4.80 ± 4.21	0.6*
Total dental cleaning (exam, prophylaxis, and fluoride)	3.0 ± 3.3	5.8 ± 3.3	1.0**
	𝑛 (%)	𝑛 (%)	Odds Ratio^a
Frankl Scale			11.2*
Negative behavior (1-2)	2 (9%)	10 (46%)
Positive behavior (3-4)	20 (91%)	12 (54%)
Presence of restraining hands	2 (9.1%)	16 (72.7%)	28.5**

aEffect size is the effect of the group on the variable, adjusted for order of visit. Cohen’s 𝑑 used for continuous variables and odds ratio for dichotomous variables.
^bWhile raw scores are presented here, analyses were performed on log values.
^∗𝑃≤.05, ^∗∗𝑃≤.001.