Arabic Translation and Validation of the Adult Oral Health Standard Set Questionnaire

Abstract

IntroductionThe Adult Oral Health Standard Set (AOHSS) questionnaire was developed by the International Dental Federation (FDI) and the Oral Adult Health Working Group (OHWG) for oral health assessment in clinical settings, research and population health surveillance. The AOHSS comprises clinical-reported outcome measures (CROMs) and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), including demographics, oral health and oral function, record of pain, oral hygiene practices and treatment cost. This survey was developed in the English language; it has been tested in European populations and translated to other languages such as French. However, an Arabic translation would be needed to apply it for clinical and population-based research on oral health in the Arab world. This study aimed to translate and validate the PROMs section of the AOHSS questionnaire into Arabic. MethodsThe AOHSS questionnaire was translated into Arabic according to the guidelines of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research (ISPOR), through a process that included forward translation, backward translation, expert committee consensus and cognitive debriefing. The questionnaire’s test–retest reliability was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) at a 2-week interval on a convenience sample of 30 subjects. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach alpha. Construct validity of the final Arabic version was examined against the validated Arabic Oral Health Assessment WHO questionnaire on 100 participants from different Arab nationalities. The participants completed both questionnaires, and the results were compared using Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient. ResultsThe test–retest reliability assessment for the Arabic version of the AOHSS presented an average ICC of 0.83 (95% CI of 0.68-0.92), indicating excellent agreement. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.75, indicating satisfactory internal consistency. For construct validity, Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient ranged from 0.14 to 0.90, indicating a statistically significant correlation with the WHO questionnaire. ConclusionsThe Arabic version of the AOHSS is good for reliability, internal consistency and validity.