Validity and Reliability of the Portuguese Version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry - REALD-29 PT

Background Health literacy is a main factor in health for its improvement, allowing the individuals to have a greater capacity to engage and participate in collective health promotion actions. The assessment of functional health literacy to determine the ability that each individual has to understand basic health information is essential. The aim of the present study was to translate and perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (REALD-30) to Portuguese language and test the reliability and validity of this version. Methods The REALD-30 in the Portuguese language (REALD-29 PT) was applied to a group of individuals that participate in the program Atividade Senior, developed by the municipality of Viseu, Portugal. The final sample was composed by 206 participants that accepted responding to the questionnaire and to the REALD-30 Portuguese version (REALD-29 PT). Translation and cultural adaptation of the questionnaire and the statistical validation was accomplished in order to complete the process and obtain the REALD-29 PT. Results The REALD-29 PT presented good internal reliability. Cronbach’s alpha ranged from 0.89 to 0.90 when words were deleted individually. The analysis of test-retest reliability revealed excellent reproducibility. We can verify that the REALD-30 scale for assessment of oral health literacy among older adults presents an acceptable internal consistency, with a global Cronbach´s alpha of 0.894. Conclusions The REALD-29 PT scale can be applied to assess oral health literacy among older Portuguese adults, presenting an acceptable internal consistency and is validated to assess oral health literacy and is crucial in epidemiological studies.

Prevalence of Caries and it’s Association with Oral Health Literacy in Children of Ngo’s

Aim: The study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of dental caries and its association with oral health literacy among under privileged children of NGOs (Non-governmental organization). Methodology: The main target of our research was to collect data of children studying at different NGOs (Non-governmental organization). Out of 4756 registered NGOs (Non-governmental organization) of Punjab, 2 were selected; The Noor Project and SOS Village. A total of 382 NGO’s (Non-governmental organization) children aged 5-11 years old were examined for dental caries and oral hygiene. The data was collected through a validated questionnaire and a standard method of dmft screening was used. Results: Exploratory analyses were performed to examine the distributions of the data and to identify outliers and missing data. Bivariate analyses were used to explore the associations between each of the covariates and OHL via Pearson’s χ2 statistics for categorical variables. The p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. There was significant association between oral health status and poor OHL amongst children. Keywords: Children, Oral Health, Survey, NGO, Lahore.

Assessment of oral health literacy of principal caregivers and its association with dental caries in Mexican disabled pediatric patients

Open bite can be defined as an absence of occlusion, most frequently located in the anterior region of dental arches and its etiology is multifactorial. We present a clinical case of an 8 years and 10 months child presenting an anterior open bite (AOB) with transverse maxillary deficiency caused by tongue thrust during mixed dentition. The malocclusion was corrected by means of a McNamara expander with a palatal crib jointly with the association of speech therapy for tongue repositioning, and otolaryngology to treat adenoid hypertrophy due to its correlation with AOB. The multidisciplinary approach was effective in correcting the malocclusion with stable results after 2 years post-treatment.

Oral health literacy and socio-demographics as determinants of oral health status and preventive behavior measures in participants of a pre-marriage counseling program

This analytical cross-sectional study aimed to assess the correlation of oral health literacy (OHL) and oral health status and behavior in participants of a pre-marriage counseling program. Also, it aimed to determine the target population’s OHL needs to design necessary interventions. A total of 828 couples with a mean age of 24.22 years participating in a pre-marriage counseling program were evaluated. Data were collected using the oral health literacy-adult questionnaire (OHL-AQ). Clinical oral examinations were performed to measure the gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and DMFT. The mean OHL score of the couples was 7.86±3.83 out of 17; while, the mean DMFT score was 6.30±5.73. After controlling for the confounders, OHL had a significant correlation with the frequency of dental visits, and smoking status, and inverse correlation with the number of decayed teeth and missing teeth, and PI, and GI (p<0.05). The current results highlight the necessity of OHL interventions to fill the existing gaps. This is an unmet need of the couples, and such interventions are required to promote their own oral health as well as the oral health of their future children.

Easy to Read Health Education Material Improves Oral Health Literacy of Older Adults in Rural Community-Based Care Centers: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Health education increases older adults’ health knowledge and affects their health outcomes. Older adults have physical changes with aging, such as blurred vision and cognitive decline. Therefore, health education materials must be legible in their case. This study, following the “easy (EZ) to read” concept, designed oral health education material and tested the learning effectiveness of older adults in rural community-based care centers in central Taiwan. Three of the communities were provided EZ to read health education material (n = 72), while three were given general text material (n = 57) as the control group. We collected pre-test and post-test scores using the Mandarin version of the oral health literacy adult questionnaire (MOHL-AQ). The demographic background of the EZ to read and general text groups showed no significant difference (p > 0.05). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that the EZ to read material significantly improved total scores of oral health literacy (p < 0.001). The chi-square test showed a significant improvement in oral health literacy levels (p < 0.001). We suggest applying EZ to read concepts to widen the field of older adult education and to reduce illegibility-induced health knowledge disparities.

Oral Health Literacy and Oral Health Behavior among Adolescents in Babol 2019

Background: The process of obtaining oral health information, evaluating its concepts and using appropriate prevention and treatment processes in the field of Oral health literacy (OHL) is within the scope of health literacy and is the link between culture and society, health system, education system, and oral health consequences. The purpose of the current study was to investigate OHL in first-grade high school students in Babol. Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study on 383 high school students in Babol 2019 using the multi-stage cluster sampling method in the first stage of school selection and in the second stage of class selection. The data were collected using demographic, oral health behaviors assessment, and Oral Health Literacy Questionnaire. OHL questionnaire has 17 questions in four sections of reading comprehension, numeracy, listening, and decision making. Regression analysis, ANOVA, T-test, and chi-square test were used for data analysis (SPSS 23). Findings: The mean score of students' OHL was 8.33 ± 2.004, and 11.7%, 26.1%, and 61.9% of the students were with adequate, borderline, and inadequate levels of OHL, respectively. According to the analysis, OHL had a significant relationship with income, father’s education, tooth brushing, and use of beverage foods. Conclusion: The results showed that OHL was insufficient among students, and more efforts and interventions were required to improve oral health and increase oral health literacy among student.

A Systematic Review of Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of Oral Health Literacy Tools

The aims of this systematic review were to critically appraise the quality of the cross-cultural adaptation and the psychometric properties of the translated versions of oral health literacy assessment tools. CINAHL (EBSCO), Medline (EBSCO), EMBASE (Ovid), and ProQuest Dissertation and Thesis were searched systematically. Studies focusing on cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of oral health literacy tools were included. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed according to the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist. Sixteen oral health literacy instruments in 11 different languages were included in this systematic review. However, only seven instruments met the criteria for an accurate cross-cultural adaptation process, while the remaining tools failed to meet at least one criterion for suitable quality of cross-cultural adaptation process. None of the studies evaluated all the aspects of psychometric properties. Most of the studies reported internal consistency, reliability, structural validity, and construct validity. Despite adequate ratings for some reported psychometric properties, the methodological quality of studies on translated versions of oral health literacy tools was mostly doubtful to inadequate. Researchers and clinicians should follow standard guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation and assess all aspects of psychometric properties for using oral health literacy tools in cross-cultural settings.

Family structure, sociodemographic factors and type of dental service associated with oral health literacy in the early adolescence

The aim of this study was to evaluate associations between oral health literacy and family, sociodemographic and dental service characteristics in early adolescents. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 740 schoolchildren. The following variables were investigated using validated questionnaires: oral health literary (BREALD-30), sociodemographic characteristics, type of dental service and family functioning (FACES III). Associations were tested using robust Poisson regression analysis (α=5%). Higher oral health literacy was associated with the female sex (RR=1.09; 95%CI: 1.03-1.14), connected type of family cohesion (RR=1.12; 95%CI: 1.05-1.20), rigid (RR=1.14; 95%CI: 1.04-1.25) and structured (RR=1.11; 95%CI: 1.04-1.20) types of family adaptability, more than eight years of mother’s schooling (RR=1.16; 95%CI: 1.10-1.22), age of caregiver more than 38 years (RR=1.07; 95%CI: 1.02-1.13) and the use of private dental services (RR=1.06; 95%CI: 1.01-1.12). The level of oral health literacy in early adolescents was associated with sex, family structure, mother’s schooling, caregiver’s age and type of dental service used.