Development and initial validation of an oral health-related quality of life scale for older adolescents

Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) perception is age-dependent and therefore different for children, adolescents, and adults. Adolescents are a critical age group with specific oral health needs. Oral health needs assessment is not complete without the estimation of OHRQoL.

To develop and validate an OHRQoL scale for older adolescents considering their functional, social, emotional, academic, and economic situation.

All steps in psychometric tool development including face, content, and translational validity, pretesting, piloting, and factor analysis were followed. Construct validity was further tested using a cross-sectional study on 400 senior secondary students. Sociodemographic data, Decayed Missing Filled Teeth, Dental Aesthetic Index, and Community Periodontal Index were used to test construct validity.

A 20-item tool with five domains (intraclass correlation of 0.857, Cronbach's alpha of 0.811, variance of 64.25%) was developed. Convergent validity was established with a single-item global question and discriminant validity with clinical indices. In the multivariate logistic regression model, malocclusion emerged as the most significant predictor for poor OHRQoL adjusting for socioeconomic status, dental caries, gingival bleeding, and last dental visit. Dental caries and last dental visit also significantly predicted poor OHRQoL in the adjusted regression model.

The new tool has sound psychometric properties, is relatively short, culturally equivalent, age-specific, and can assess both positive and negative aspects of adolescent oral health. Further testing in longitudinal studies is required to determine its usefulness as an outcome measure.