Comparative Assessment of Salivary Cortisol Levels and Dental Anxiety In Children With Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder

Background: Autism and ADHD are neurodevelopmental disorders. Children with ADHD and autism face difficulty in interaction, remaining focused, and in communication with the dentist. Dental treatment is often stressful and anxiety-producing. Cortisol is the main indicator of anxiety. Hence the study was conducted to assess the Dental anxiety and Salivary Cortisol Levels in Autistic, ADHD and healthy children Aim: To compare the salivary cortisol level and dental anxiety in Children with Autism and ADHD. Methodology: The study population consists of sixty children divided into three groups which included twenty ADHD, autistic and healthy children. Pre and post-dental examination Salivary cortisol (SC) levels of all the groups were estimated using the Electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA) method for which about 1-2ml of unstimulated salivary samples were collected. The children were asked to fill an MDAS questionnaire. Inferential statistics was applied to find the equality of means of all the three groups were tested by applying ANOVA followed by post hoc test after the verification of normality assumption. To find the correlation between salivary cortisol levels and anxiety Pearson's correlation coefficient was computed. Results: There was no significant correlation between dental anxiety and salivary cortisol level. Autistic children had the highest MDAS score. ADHD children had an increase in the Post dental examination salivary cortisol level. The extremely anxious response was seen in all the three groups for local anesthesia. Conclusion: No significant correlation is seen in MDAS and salivary cortisol in all the groups. Autistic children were found to be the most anxious.