Psychometric properties of BREALD-30 for assessing adolescents' oral health literacy

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) administered to adolescents. METHODS The study included 750 adolescents: 375 aged 12 years and 375 aged 15-19 years, attending public and private schools in Campina Grande, state of Paraíba, Brazil, in 2017. Reliability was measured based on internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Convergent validity was measured based on correlations between BREALD-30 and Functional Literacy Indicator scores. Divergent validity was measured by comparing BREALD-30 scores with sociodemographic variables. For predictive validity, the association between BREALD-30 scores and the presence of cavitated carious lesions was tested using a multiple logistic regression model. All statistical tests were performed with a significance level of 5%. RESULTS BREALD-30 showed good internal consistency for the 12 year olds and 15 to19 year olds (Cronbach's alpha = 0.871 and 0.834, respectively) and good test-retest reliability [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.898 and 0.974; kappa = 0.804 and 0.808, respectively]. Moreover, item-total correlation was satisfactory for all items. BREALD-30 had convergent validity with the Functional Literacy Indicator for 12 year olds (rs = 0.558, p < 0.001) and for 15 to 19 year olds (rs = 0.652, p < 0.001). Participants with higher oral health literacy levels who attended private schools (p < 0.001), belonged to economic classes A and B2 (p < 0.001), and who had parents with higher education levels (p < 0.001) were included, indicating the divergent validity of the BREALD-30. Participants with lower BREALD-30 scores were more likely to have cavitated carious lesions [12 year olds: odds ratio (OR) = 2.37; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.48-3.80; 15 to 19 year olds: OR = 1.96; 95%CI 1.24-3.11]. CONCLUSIONS BREALD-30 shows satisfactory psychometric properties for use on Brazilian adolescents and can be applied as a fast, simple, and reliable measure of oral health literacy.

Validity and reliability of the quality of masticatory function questionnaire applied in Brazilian adolescents

ABSTRACT Purpose proper chewing and swallowing functions have great importance in general health, since it potentially affects food’s digestion and the subject’s nutritional status. The aim was to assess the validity and reliability of the self-applied Quality of Masticatory Function Questionnaire (QMFQ) in a convenience (non-referred) sample of Brazilian adolescents divided into three groups: control (n=57), dental caries (n=51) and malocclusion (n=54). Methods caries and malocclusion were evaluated using DMF-S index (number of decayed, missing and filled primary and permanent surfaces) and Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need, respectively. The QMFQ comprises 26 items regarding frequency and intensity of chewing problems with five domains: Food-Mastication, Habits, Meat, Fruits and Vegetables. Data were submitted to descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-square tests. Psychometric evaluation included measures of reliability (internal consistency - Cronbach's alpha and matrix of correlation) and discriminant validity (Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn post-test). Results the instrument showed satisfactory internal consistency, with significant positive correlations between the domains scores except between Habits and Vegetables. Total scale Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.87 and the coefficient did not increase significantly with the removal of each domain. Significant differences were found between controls and caries group in Food-Mastication, Meat and Fruits scores. Caries group also showed higher median values in Food-Mastication and Fruits than the malocclusion group. Conclusion the Quality of Masticatory Function Questionnaire showed acceptable properties regarding internal consistency, reliability, and discriminant validity in evaluating the impact of caries on the perception of the masticatory function quality of Brazilian adolescents.

Training and calibration of interviewers for oral health literacy using the BREALD-30 in epidemiological studies

Abstract The objective of this study was to describe an interviewer training and calibration method to evaluate oral health literacy using the Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) in epidemiological studies. An experienced researcher (gold standard) conducted all training sessions. The interviewer training and calibration sessions included three different phases: theoretical training, practical training, and calibration. In the calibration phase, six interviewers (dentists) independently assessed 15 videos of individuals who had different levels of oral health literacy. Accuracy and reproducibility were evaluated using the kappa coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The percentage of agreement for each word in the instrument was also calculated. After training, the kappa values were higher than 0.911 and 0.893 for intra- and inter-rater agreement, respectively. When the results were analyzed separately for the different levels of literacy, the lowest agreement rate was found when evaluating the videos of individuals with low literacy (K = 0.871), but still within the range considered to be near-perfect agreement. The ICC values were higher than 0.990 and 0.975 for intra- and inter-rater agreement, respectively. The lowest percentage of agreement was 86.6% for the word "hipoplasia" (hypoplasia). This interviewer training and calibration method proved to be feasible and effective. Therefore, it can be used as a methodological tool in studies assessing oral health literacy using the BREALD-30.

Construção e validação de um instrumento para avaliação dos serviços públicos de saúde bucal na atenção primária à saúde sob a ótica dos usuários (ASBAP-usuário) / Construction and validation of a tool for the assessment of oral health in primary health care through the perspective of users (ASBAP-usuário)

O Sistema Único de Saúde encontra-se em constante construção através da participação de diferentes atores, incluindo os usuários. A avaliação do sistema, através do uso de questionários, é uma das maneiras possíveis de contribuição nesse processo de consolidação da política nacional de saúde. Na saúde bucal essa situação não é diferente, sendo que, a exemplo do que ocorre na assistência médica, a participação de usuários nesse processo é imprescindível. No entanto, observa-se uma escassez de instrumentos especificamente voltados para avaliação da saúde bucal sob a ótica de usuários na atenção primária à saúde. A integralidade comporta diferentes significados, capazes de contribuir para a mudança do modelo e qualificação da atenção e dessa maneira pode servir de referencial teórico na construção de um novo instrumento. O objetivo desse trabalho foi construir e validar um instrumento, na forma de questionário, capaz de avaliar a saúde bucal na atenção primária à saúde sob a ótica de usuários...