Development of the Oral Health Literacy Profile (OHLP)

Einleitung:

There is a lack of oral health literacy (OHL) instruments addressing the intricacies of the German health care system and oral health (OH). Within the project “Promotion of OH and OHL of migrants” we have developed an instrument that assesses participants' knowledge of OH, prevention of oral diseases, and oral healthcare regulations.

Methoden:

A review of OHL instruments in an iterative process by an expert panel to assess content validity and relevance lead to a first draft Oral Health Literacy Profile (OHLP) consisting of 58 items, including 2 self-assessment items about OH and OHL, 20 about behavior, 21 about dental knowledge, 13 about the health care system, and 2 numeracy items.

The OHLP-58 was tested in a convenience sample (N = 95), in which 59% were women, 65% below 50 years of age, and 52% with an academic education. Average completion time was 14 minutes.

Ergebnisse:

After analysis of item psychometrics and the quality of relevant distractors as well as feedback from an expert panel and participants of the pilot study, 19 items were deleted and 3 health care system items modified. Items in the new OHLP-30 include 2 single self-assessment items about OH and OHL, 12 about behavior, 11 about dental knowledge, and 5 about the health care system.

Diskussion:

OH-specific, valid questionnaires are relevant for health care research, specifically for the evaluation of prevention programmes. The OHLP-30 is a comprehensive OHL measure suitable not only for health care research, but also in dental settings.