Definition of aggressive periodontitis in periodontal research. A systematic review

Since its introduction in 1999, the term aggressive periodontitis has been the topic of many investigations. Articles supporting the International Workshop for a Classification of Periodontal Diseases list several disease features, but do not offer operational criteria for identifying cases. Consequently, considerable variation in the understanding of aggressive periodontitis can be anticipated. AIM: To systematically asses, the definitions of aggressive periodontitis reported in original periodontal research. METHODS: A systematic review of original research on aggressive periodontitis published in English. RESULTS: The electronic search yielded 833 abstracts. Of these, 472 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were appraised. In 26.5% of the publications no information on aggressive periodontitis operationalization is presented, but reference is made to another article. In 12.7% of the publications no information is provided as to how the cases were defined. Many combinations of criteria for case definition were found. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed significant heterogeneity in the understanding and use of the term aggressive periodontitis in original research and poor documentation of the identification of cases. The direction and magnitude of the influence of misclassification and selection bias are unknown, but ought to be considered by the critical reader, professionals, and patients using this term. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.