Adaptation and validation of the early childhood oral health impact scale in Lithuania

Abstract

Background. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is a parent – assessed oral health related quality of life measure developed to assess the impact of oral health problems on preschool children. Aim. The aim of this study was to develop a Lithuanian version of the ECOHIS and evaluate its validity and reliability among preschool children in Lithuania. Design. A lithuanian version of ECOHIS (L-ECOHIS) was developed through a forwardbackword translation. A cross-sectional study was performed to assess discriminant and convergent validity and internal consistency. Data was collected from 130 parents of 0-5 year-old children visiting the dental department. A subsample of parents fi lled the questionnaire again to assess the test-retest reliability. Results. Cronbach's alpha for the instrument was 0.869. Item-total correlation coeffi cients ranged from 0.389 to 0.797. Scores of the child and family sections were signifi cantly correlated (P<0.001). The scale scores indicating worse quality of life were signifi cantly associated with poor parental ratings of their child's oral health and problem-based dental attendance. The intraclass correlation coeffi cient was 0.98. Conclusion. The L-ECOHIS is a valid and reliable measure to assess OHRQoL of 0–5 yearold children with Lithuanian speaking parents.