Self-reported questionnaire on periodontal condition validated for use in Brazil

Area of Science:

• Oral Health Research
• Periodontology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Global demand for reliable periodontal condition surveillance instruments is increasing.
• The Oral Health Questions Set B (OHQB) is a valuable tool for assessing oral health.
• Validation of the OHQB for Brazilian Portuguese is necessary to expand its use in Brazil.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and validate the Oral Health Questions Set B (OHQB) for Brazilian Portuguese (OHQB-Br).
• To evaluate the internal consistency and temporal stability of the OHQB-Br.
• To assess the concurrent validity of the OHQB-Br against clinical periodontal diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Sequential mixed-methods design involving forward-backward translation.
• Application of OHQB-Br to 156 participants, followed by clinical periodontal examination.
• Reapplication of OHQB-Br to 71 participants after one year to assess temporal stability.
• Statistical analyses included ordinal alpha, McDonald's omega, Spearman correlation, ICC, and Bland-Altman plots.

Main Results:

• The OHQB-Br demonstrated adequate internal consistency with ordinal alpha of 0.69 and McDonald's omega of 0.73.
• High temporal stability was confirmed by Spearman correlation (0.80) and ICC (0.79).
• Concurrent validity was established, showing a direct relationship between OHQB-Br scores and periodontal disease severity.

Conclusions:

• The OHQB-Br is a valid and reliable instrument for periodontal surveillance in Brazil.
• The validated OHQB-Br can be utilized in public health settings for monitoring periodontal health and disease.
• This instrument supports the need for accessible tools in global oral health surveillance.