The reliability and validity of the Romanian rapid estimate of adult literacy in dentistry (RREALD-30)

Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to translate and adapt the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (RREALD-30) instrument for Romanian urban adults and to test its reliability and validity for oral health literacy studies.

Material and methods

The study examined urban adult patients (n = 224) who attended the dental school clinic at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Bucharest. We collected data through face-to-face interviews utilising the REALD-30 instrument. The interviews enquired about the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), background characteristics, oral health-related knowledge, visits to dentists and self-rated oral health status. We applied principal component analysis for factor structure and Item Response Theory models to discriminate ability. A structural equation model (SEM) evaluated whether knowledge, perceived oral health, and visits to the dentist mediate the effect of RREALD on OHIP-14.

Results

Of the 224 participants, 113 (50.4%) were males. The internal consistency of the RREALD-30 measured by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.88. The test-retest reliability was excellent (Spearman’s correlation coefficient 0.98, ICC 0.90). RREALD-30 exhibited good concurrent and predictive validity. SEM demonstrated that RREALD mediated the effect of visits to dentist on OHIP-14.

Conclusion

The RREALD-30 proved satisfactory psychometric properties and may serve to evaluate dental health literacy among Romanian adults.