Reliability and validity of a Swedish version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐S)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to translate the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP) into Swedish and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Swedish version (OHIP‐S). The OHIP is a 49‐item, self‐administered questionnaire divided into 7 different subscales. The original version in English was translated into Swedish, accompanied by back‐translation into English, after which the Swedish version was revised. A total of 145 consecutive patients participated and answered a questionnaire. The patients comprised five clinically separate groups: temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) (n = 30), Primary Sjögren's Syndrome (SS) (n = 30), burning sensation and pain in the oral mucosa (oral mucosal pain, OMP) (n = 28), skeletal malocclusion (malocclusion) (n = 27), and healthy dental recall patients (controls) (n = 30). The TMD group and the control group participated in a test–retest procedure. The internal reliability of each subscale was calculated with Cronbach's alpha and found to be high and to range from 0.83–0.91. The stability (test–retest) of the instrument, calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient, ranged from 0.87 to 0.98. The construct validity of OHIP‐S was compared with subscales of the Symptom Check List (SCL‐90) (rho 0.65) and the Jaw Function Limitation Scale (JFLS) (rho 0.76) and analyzed with Spearman's correlation coefficient. Convergent validity was evaluated by comparing OHIP with self‐reported health using Spearman's correlation coefficient and was found to be acceptable (rho 0.61). In the evaluation of the discriminative ability of the instrument, significant differences were found in the total OHIP‐S score between the controls and the other four groups (P<0.001). We conclude that the reliability and validity of OHIP‐S is excellent. The instrument can be recommended for assessing the impact of oral health on masticatory ability and psychosocial function.