Reports from University of Washington Provide New Insights into Managed Care (Self-Reported Stress, Hair Cortisol and Untreated Caries in Low-Income Adolescents in the United States): Managed Care

2026 APR 30 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Managed Care have been published. According to news reporting originating in Seattle, Washington, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “To evaluate pairwise associations between 4 self-reported and 1 biological stress measure (hair cortisol) and assess the associations between stress and untreated dental caries in adolescents enrolled in public insurance (Medicaid) in the United States. This pilot cross-sectional study used survey, hair and dental screening data collected from Oregon Medicaid-enrolled adolescents ages 12 to 18 years (n=268).”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Washington, “Self-reported stress measures included the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS) and adapted versions of the Stressful Life Events Screening Questionnaire, the Psychosocial Index and Things I Have Seen and Heard (TISH) questionnaire. The biological stress measure was hair cortisol concentration (HCC). Untreated caries was defined as the number of decayed primary and permanent tooth surfaces. Spearman’s rank-order correlation test was used to report correlations (r) and 95 percent confidence intervals (a=0.05). The four self-reported stress measures were significantly and positively correlated. PSS was the only self-reported stress measure that was significantly associated with HCC (=-0.16; =0.008). Most stress measures showed very weak, statistically insignificant associations with untreated caries, except for a significant but negative correlation between untreated caries and the TISH questionnaire (=-0.13; =0.04). Self-reported and biological stress measures may not be interchangeable. Most of the evaluated stress measures demonstrated an insignificant association with untreated caries.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Additional work is needed to elucidate the relationship between different types of stress and oral health outcomes in low-income adolescents.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Self-Reported Stress, Hair Cortisol and Untreated Caries in Low-Income Adolescents in the United States. Journal of Dentistry for Children, 2026;93(1):9-20.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Lloyd A. Mancl, Associate Dean for Research and Professor, Dept. of Oral Health Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States. Additional authors for this research include Kimia Imani and Donald L. Chi.

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