OHIP-5 FOR SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN

Background: Different dental patient-reported outcome measures (dPROMs) exist for children and adults, leading to an incompatibility in outcome assessment in these 2 age groups. However, the dental patient-reported outcomes (dPROs) Oral Function, Orofacial Pain, Orofacial Appearance, and Psychosocial Impact are the same in the 2 groups, providing an opportunity for compatible dPRO assessment if dPROMs were identical. Therefore, we adapted the 5-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-5), a recommended dPROM for adults, to school-aged children to allow a standardized dPRO assessment in individuals aged 7 years and above. Aim: It was the aim of this study to develop a 5-item OHIP for school-aged children (OHIP-5_School) and to investigate the instrument's score reliability and validity. Methods: German-speaking children (N = 95, mean age: 8.6 years +/- 1.3 years, 55% girls) from the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria and a private dental practice in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany participated. The original OHIP-5 was modified and adapted for school going children aged 7-13 years and this modified version was termed OHIP-5_School. It's score reliability was studied by determining scores’ internal consistency and temporal stability by calculating Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients, respectively. Construct validity was assessed comparing OHIP-5_School scores with OHIP-5 as well as Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ-G_8-10) scores. Results: Score reliability for the OHIP-5_School was “good” (Cronbach's alpha: 0.81) or “excellent” (Intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.92). High correlations between OHIP-5_School, OHIP-5, and CPQ-G_8-10 scores were observed and hypotheses about a pattern of these correlations were confirmed, providing evidence for score validity. Conclusion: The OHIP-5_School and the original OHIP-5 are short and psychometrically sound instruments to measure the oral health related quality of life in school-aged children, providing an opportunity for a standardized oral health impact assessment with the same metric in school-aged children, adolescents, and adults.