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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
A new brief measure of oral quality of life
Nancy R Kressin1, Judith A Jones, Michelle B Orner
1Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research, 200 Springs Road, Building 70 (152), Bedford, MA 01730, USA. nkressin@bu.edu
Introduction:
We developed a brief measure of the impact of oral conditions on individual functioning and well-being, known as oral quality of life.
Methods:
Among older male veterans (N = 827) and community dental patients (N = 113), we administered surveys consisting of extant oral quality of life items, using clinical dental data from the veteran samples. We assigned each oral quality of life item to a theoretical dimension, conducted an iterative series of multitrait scaling analyses to examine the item-fit with the dimensions, reduced the number of items, and examined the psychometric characteristics of new scales and their association with clinical indices.
Results:
We developed two brief oral quality of life scales, one consisting of 12 items and the other of 6, the latter a subset of the former. Each demonstrated sound psychometric properties and was sensitive to clinical indices.
Conclusion:
The two brief oral quality of life scales can be used to assess the population-based impact of oral conditions as well as outcomes of dental care.
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