This research proposal outlines a cross-sectional study to examine the prevalence of dental caries in children with Down's Syndrome aged 7 to 15 years in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The study will use a convenience sample of 200 children, assessing the relationship between dental caries and factors like ability to follow instructions, brushing habits, and parents' education level, economic status, oral health knowledge, and risk perception. The cross-sectional study design and methodology are described, including inclusion/exclusion criteria for sampling children in Dhaka city.

1. R E S E A R C H P R O P O S A L F O R A
C R O S S - S E C T I O N A L S T U D Y
NAME: TUBAYESHA HASSAN
ID: 1635270080
SEMESTER: SPRING’17
SUBJECT: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2. RESEARCH QUESTION
•What is the prevalence of dental caries in
children with Down’s Syndrome aging between
7 to 15 years in Dhaka city?

3. RATIONALE
• Down’s syndrome is a form of intellectual disability
which is very less studied in the context of the dense
population and rather greater issues in a developing
country like Bangladesh.
• Based on the global trend that one in every 800
children born with this chromosomal abnormality,
Bangladesh is estimated to have around 2,00,000
Down’s syndrome patient.

4. RATIONALE
• Many studies have shown a lower experience of caries
in people with Down syndrome compared to normal
individuals, but this issue has not been critically
evaluated.

5. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
• Ability to follow instructions
• Less brushing
• Parents’ economic status
• Parents’ education level
• Parents’ exposure to information
• Parents’ oral health concern
• Parents’ risk perception
Dental
Caries in
Down’s
syndrome

6. METHODOLOGY
•Study Design-
 Cross-sectional Study
•Study Site-
 Dhaka city (Areas Dhanmondi, Banani and
Mirpur)
•Study Population-
 Children with Down’s Syndrome aging between
7 years and 15 years
•Sample Size- 200

7. METHODOLOGY
•Inclusion Criteria-
 Doctor-diagnosed Down’s Syndrome
 Age 7-15 years
 Permanent resident of Dhaka city
 Having at least 12 teeth, including both
deciduous and permanent dentition

8. METHODOLOGY
•Exclusion Criteria-
 Children having visited and received dental
treatment within the last 6 months
•Data Collection Method-
 Convenience sampling technique (rationale is, the
type of disability the samples have)

9. KEY VARIABLES
Independent Variables:
• Ability to follow instructions
• Less practice of brushing
• Parents’ economic status
• Parents’ education level
• Parents’ exposure to information
• Parents’ oral health concern
• Parents’ risk perception

10. KEY VARIABLES
Dependent Variable-
• Dental caries