Validation of the Health Literacy in Dentistry Scale (HeLD-14) in the Greek Language

To translate and culturally adapt the Health Literacy in Dentistry Scale (HeLD-14) into the Greek language.

Following the official translation of the questionnaire, a cross-sectional study was carried out involving 333 participants from the general Greek population. The self-administered questionnaire, completed both in paper-and-pencil format and electronically, included sections on demographic information and oral health-related data, along with the translated versions of the Health Literacy in Dentistry Scale (HeLD-14) and the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16). The study was conducted from March to July 2025, and data were analyzed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS, version 29; IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Armonk, NY).

Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the HeLD-14 operates as a single-factor instrument, with all items showing factor loadings above 0.40 on this factor. The 14-item scale demonstrated strong internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha of 0.879 and McDonald's ω of 0.877. Additionally, there was a positive and statistically significant correlation (r = 0.424, p < 0.001) between HeLD-14 scores and the total scores of the HLS-EU-Q16, supporting the concurrent validity of the Greek version of the HeLD-14.

The HeLD-14 is a reliable and valid tool for evaluating various aspects of oral health literacy among Greek-speaking adults. Its concise format and ease of use, along with strong psychometric properties, make it suitable for evaluating oral health literacy in both public health research and routine clinical practice.