Objectives The aims of this study were to develop a German version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS), a measure of oral health-related quality of life in preschool age children, and to assess the instrument's reliability and validity. Methods The original English version of the ECOHIS questionnaire was translated into German (ECOHIS-G) by a forwardbackward translation method. A total of 336 children aged 0 to 5 years and their caregivers who were recruited at the Department of Paediatric Dentistry in Vienna, Austria, participated in this study. The caregivers completed the ECOHIS-G and their children were clinically examined for the presence of dental caries and plaque accumulation. Reliability of ECOHIS was investigated in a subsample of 59 subjects after 3 weeks. Results Questionnaire summary score test-retest reliability was 0.81 (intraclass correlation coefficient, 95% confidence interval (CI) ranging from 0.68 to 0.89) and internal consistency was 0.83 (Cronbach's alpha, lower limit of the 95% CI 0.80). Validity of the ECOHIS-G questionnaire was supported by correlation coefficients with global ratings of oral health of − 0.42 (95% CI − 0.45 to − 0.35) and overall well-being of − 0.29 (95% CI − 0.34 to − 0.22) which met the expectations. Mean ECOHIS-G scores were statistically significantly higher in children with caries compared with caries-free children. Conclusions The German version of the ECHOHIS was found to be reliable and valid in children aged 0 to 5 years. Clinical relevance These findings enable assessments of oral health-related quality of life in German-speaking preschool children. Keywords Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS). Psychometric properties. Reliability. Validity
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.