Translation and Validation of the Arabic Version of the Xerostomia Inventory

Xerostomia is a common condition in older adults and is associated with adverse oral health outcomes. The Xerostomia Inventory (XI) is a widely used instrument for assessing perceived dry mouth, yet a validated Arabic version of the full XI is lacking. This study aimed to translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Xerostomia Inventory (XI-Ar) among older adults in Saudi Arabia.

This cross-sectional psychometric validation study included 77 Arabic-speaking adults aged 60-86 years (58.4% female) from the College of Dentistry University Hospital at Taibah University, Saudi Arabia. The XI-Ar was developed using a structured cross-cultural adaptation process, and participants completed the instrument at baseline; a subset repeated it after 7 days. Psychometric evaluation included internal consistency, acceptability, construct validity, convergent validity, and test-retest reliability.

The XI-Ar demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.86) and good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.75). Floor and ceiling effects were minimal (1.3% each). The correlation between total XI-Ar scores and unstimulated whole salivary flow rate was weak. Item-level correlations with salivary flow were observed for SIPLIQ (ρ = -0.37) and DRYMOUTH (ρ = -0.24). Participants with poor self-rated oral health and those with depressive symptoms reported higher xerostomia scores than their counterparts, supporting discriminant validity. XI-Ar scores did not differ meaningfully by nutritional status or hyposalivation classification.

The XI-Ar is a valid and reliable tool for assessing xerostomia among Arabic-speaking older adults, with psychometric performance comparable to validated versions.