{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T12:49:13Z","timestamp":1789649353564,"version":"4.0.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725840000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Comm Dent Oral Epid"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>Causal analysis including causal inference and causal mediation is pivotal to inform effective interventions. In modern epidemilogy, causal analysis involves four key steps: formulating causal questions, employing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), conducting data management and selecting statistical strategies. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review to assess how longitudinal observational studies (LOSs) in dental field have integrated these four steps to contribute leverage evidence that inform oral public health interventions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>LOSs focusing on determinants of dental caries published from 2012 to 2024 were systematically retrieved from five major databases. The Joanna Briggs Institute\u2010scoping review guidance and the Covidence application were employed to identify eligible LOSs for being reviewed.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Out of the 85 eligible LOSs, none formulated causal hypothesis by applying \u2018what if\u2019 question or investigated mediation across three levels of the determinants of oral health. A minority (18 studies, ~21.2%) employed DAGs to visualise relationships among study variables, while only one third (33 studies, ~39%) clearly defined confounders. The majority (64 studies, ~75%) incorporated a time\u2010varying feature of their data, yet only a few (11 studies) fully leveraged this advanced aspect. Among these studies that fully utilised time\u2010varying data, more than half encountered challenges in employing robust statistics to address confounders arising from such data dynamics.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Dental LOSs have, to date, mostly focused on investigating associations over causality, often neglecting the four\u2010step causal analysis and not fully utilising time\u2010varying data. Researchers necessitate to shift their focus to causal inference and prioritise building capacity in causal analysis with a consistent four\u2010step approach to advance the field. Studies exploring mechanisms linking determinants of dental caries across levels and leveraging time\u2010varying data are strongly encouraged.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/cdoe.13002","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T12:41:57Z","timestamp":1725885717000},"page":"7-16","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Causal analyses in longitudinal observational studies in oral health: A scoping review"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"53","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1942-3009","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"An T. M.","family":"Dao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences The University of Queensland  Brisbane Queensland Australia"},{"name":"Hanoi Medical University  Hanoi Vietnam"},{"name":"Division of Epidemiology, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School  Worcester Massachusetts USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3684-9949","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Loc G.","family":"Do","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences The University of Queensland  Brisbane Queensland Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0758-1605","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicole","family":"Stormon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences The University of Queensland  Brisbane Queensland Australia"},{"name":"Community and Oral Health Metro North Hospital and Health Services  Queensland Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manori","family":"Dhanapriyanka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences The University of Queensland  Brisbane Queensland Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5440-4452","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Diep H.","family":"Ha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences The University of Queensland  Brisbane Queensland Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/ipd.12783"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","first-page":"288","volume-title":"Oral Health of Australian Children","author":"Do LG","year":"2016"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1542\/peds.2006-3084"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-08-097086-8.42095-7"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/sim.3016"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2021.14075"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_8_1","volume-title":"Causal inference: what if","author":"Hern\u00e1n MA","year":"2020"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00127-016-1281-9"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1214\/19-STS728"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rspb.2020.2815"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/cdoe.12802"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2018.304337"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1177\/00220345221084283"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12874-018-0611-x"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/XEB.0000000000000277"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7326\/M18-0850"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_18_1","unstructured":"Zotero\u2010https:\/\/www.zotero.org"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_19_1","unstructured":"Covidence.Systematic Review Tool.https:\/\/www.covidence.org\/"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2022-219267"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nieminen P. &V\u00e4h\u00e4nikkil\u00e4 H.(2020).Use of Data Analysis Methods in Dental Publications: Is There Evidence of a Methodological Change? 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