Validation of the Polish version of the oral health impact profile-14.

BACKGROUND The Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) is an example of a specific questionnaire used for assessing the quality of life in relation to oral health. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to validate the Polish version of the original English Short-Form OHIP-14 questionnaire. MATERIAL AND METHODS The Polish version of the OHIP-14 instrument had been prepared in accordance with generally accepted standards. The main study was conducted among a group of 150 subjects of both genders, aged from 35 to 91 who were randomly selected. Statistical analysis was made by STATISTICA software using the Cronbach alpha reliability test, Mann-Whitney U test, multiple comparison post-hoc test - LSD and Spearman`s correlation coefficient. RESULTS The total OHIP-14 score was 8.72 ± 13.39, out of which the highest value was for item 4 (uncomfortable to eat 0.89 ± 1.19). The value of the alpha Cronbach coefficient was above 0.9 for all 14 items of the OHIP-14 instrument indicating excellent internal consistency. Positive relationships between all items of the matrix of the inter-items correlation coefficients were found. The value of coefficients ranged from 0.56 to 0.90 at a significance level of p < 0.01. Construct validity was supported by the fact that oral health condition was correlated with total OHIP score. It was observed that there is a correlation between the quality of life evaluated with the OHIP-14 test and dental condition, dental needs, wearing removable dentures and self-assessment of general health and oral health condition. CONCLUSIONS The obtained data indicated the reliability and validity of OHIP-14 instrument for the assessment of oral health-related quality of life for in Polish adult population.