The Serbian version of the “Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults”

Abstract

Background/Aim. The assessment of the impact of oral health on the quality of life presents the increasing need in testing oral health of an individual and of the entire population. The aim of the study was to translate the index of “Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults” of the World Health Organization into the Serbian language and to check its reliability in the Serbian Armed Forces professional staff. Methods. This study was designed as an observational, epidemiological study. The “Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults” was translated into the Serbian language. The classical test theory was used in the data analysis. The assessed characteristics included internal consistency and construct validity. Results. A total of 1,741 participants were included in this analysis. The mean age of the study group was 32.4 ± 9.7 years. In the last 12 months, problems which occurred frequently or very often regarding teeth and mouth were as follows: difficult biting of food (6.2%), difficult chewing (5.1%), difficult speech or difficult pronunciation of certain words (1.9%), dryness of the mouth (2.9%), the feeling of discomfort due to the esthetic appearance of teeth (6.8%). The reliability of the “Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults” (items considering Oral Health Self-Assessment) had high internal consistency (the Cronbach’s coefficient was 0.879). The Principal component analysis and Promax rotation revealed 1 factor with Eigenvalue exceeding 1, accounting for 54.3% of the total variance. Conclusion. The Serbian version of the „Oral Health Questionnaire for Adults” provides very useful and reliable information on the condition of oral health of the Serbian Armed Forces professional members.