ArticleJournal of dental sciences2026
Measurement of predictive validity of admission criteria used by public dental colleges in Pakistan. Time to reconsider.
Article in Journal of dental sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background/purpose: Dentistry education evolved from treating painful teeth to comprehensive oral care program. Oral health is an integral component of general healthcare. Like medical institutes, dental institutes have introduced admission tests as a component of selection criteria. However, various selection criteria components are not investigated for their predictive validity. This study aimed to measure the predictive value of selection criteria used in Pakistani dental colleges. This study provides recommendations for revision of weightings of admission criteria. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective, quantitative and longitudinal cohort study. Deidentified data from a public dental college of Pakistan were analyzed. The Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), Higher Secondary School Certificate Examination (HSSCE), and admission test scores were used as predictive variables, and professional examinations scores as outcome variables. Spearman's correlation coefficient and multivariate multiple regression (MMR) analyses were performed. Results: Most data were left skewed, suggesting higher scores. The SSCE and admission test scores showed moderate positive correlation with professional examinations ( Conclusion: The SSCE and admission test are the significant predictors of successful professional examinations. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) should reconsider selection criteria weightings. A revised higher weighting for SSCE and admission test and lower weighting for HSSCE scores would bring fairness in the selection process.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.