A Vietnamese version of the 14-item oral health impact profile (OHIP-14VN)

Aim: To validate a Vietnamese short version (OHIP- 14VN) for use in epidemiological studies. Methods: The original English-language version was translated into Vietnamese, back translated and after some revisions tested for psychometric properties. Subjects (n = 724) were asked to self-administer a questionnaire but could ask for assistance. Convergent validity was tested by investigating associations between OHIP domain and total scores, and dichotomized self-reported satisfaction with 1) the dentition in general, 2) chewing function, and 3) esthetics. Groups validity was evaluated by comparing OHIP scores of subjects having ≤6 molars vs. >6 molars and tooth decay vs. no decay. Test-retest reliability was investigated in a convenience sample (n = 54) and expressed in Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs). Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha and average interitem correlation coefficients. Results: Validity: all associations were in the hypothesized directions. Differences in mean OHIP total were statistically sig-nificant for all discriminative variables. OHIP scores completed with assistance were significantly lower than those from self-administered questionnaires and therefore analyzed separately. For both administration formats differences in mean scores were still significant for “satisfaction” but for having ≤6 molars or decay the differences lost significance for most domain and total scores. Reliability: ICCs ranged from 0.54 - 0.74. Internal consistency: Cronbach’s alphas for OHIP total scores were 0.93 (self-administered) and 0.91 (with assistance). Average interitem correlation coefficients ranged from 0.26 - 0.67 (self-administered) and 0.28 - 0.69 (with assistance). Conclusions: This Vietnamese version of the OHIP-14 demonstrated good construct validity and acceptable reliability for OHIP total scores however OHIP-14VN domain scores should be interpreted with caution.