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2nd. Edition

Selection of Subject Populations for Clinical Studies

An interesting aspect of bad breath research involves selection of subject populations. Some studies have excluded women, based on research showing that oral malodor may change as a function of the menstrual cycle (Tonzetich et al., 1978). Since the majority of individuals appearing with a complaint of oral malodor are women (Rosenberg and Leib, this volume), their participation in clinical studies is warranted. Another question involves mode of recruitment of subjects for oral malodor studies. Based on the data of Eli et al. (this volume), subjects who volunteered for a clinical study in response to a newspaper article tended to have altered psychopathological profiles, as compared to a general population of dental patients. Thus, investigations employing a wide range of subjects who do not necessarily complain of oral malodor (e.g., Miyazaki et al. ,this volume) are necessary in order to obtain data more representative of the population as a whole.