Development and evaluation of a new oral health literacy instrument among telugu speaking population: The indian oral health literacy measure

Purpose

Oral health literacy (OHL) is a relatively unexplored construct in the Indian context. Most of the few previous studies estimating OHL among different populations of India used instruments that were either previously validated in a different country or not tested for psychometric properties. With this background, the objective of this study was to develop an Indian oral health literacy measure and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the instrument among Telugu speaking population of Andhra Pradesh (IOHLM-T).

Materials and Methods

The initial version of the instrument after evaluated for face and content validity was tested for psychometric properties among 200 adult patients visiting the outpatient department of SIBAR Institute of Dental Sciences. Predictive validity of the instrument was checked by the association between IOHLM-T score and oral health impact profile (OHIP-14), decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT) scores. Convergent validity was tested by assessing the correlation between IOHLM-T score and rapid estimate of adult literacy in dentistry (REALD-30) score.

Statistical Analysis

SPSS version 20 software was used to analyse the data. Independent samples t-test, Pearson's correlation, one-way ANOVA and stepwise multiple linear regression were done to analyse the data.

Results

IOHLM-T demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.75), convergent validity (r = 0.34 between Reald-30 and IOHLM-T scores) and predictive validity (significant negative correlation of IOHLM-T with OHIP-14 and DMFT scores).

Conclusion

IOHLM-T demonstrates good face validity, content validity, predictive validity, convergent validity and internal consistency reliability and thus can be used among different populations in India after translation to the corresponding languages and evaluation of psychometric properties.

Comparing Caries Experience between Azadirachta indica Chewing Stick Users and Toothbrush Users among 35-44-Year-Old Rural Population of Southern India

Objectives

To compare the caries experience between Azadirachta indica chewing stick users and toothbrush users among 35-44-year-old rural population in Southern India.

Materials and Methods

This ex post facto research was conducted in the rural parts of two sub-administrative areas of a district in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The sample size for the study was determined to be 400, with 200 subjects in each group. Subjects following indigenous oral hygiene methods were identified using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. After obtaining 200 subjects using A. indica chewing sticks, age, gender, and socioeconomic status matched controls using toothbrush were identified. American Dental Association type III examination was carried out to record caries experience (decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) Index) after obtaining informed consent and thus obtained data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20.

Results

It was observed that the caries experience was more in toothbrush users compared to subjects following indigenous methods (DMFT, 4.38 ± 1.93 vs. 3.54 ± 1.02). Similar results were obtained when the decay component of DMFT index was exclusively compared. No significant difference in the plaque scores and the mean number of filled, missing teeth was observed between the two groups.

Conclusion

Though conclusive results cannot be drawn from this study about the positive influence of indigenous methods on caries experience, the results emphasize the cardinal need to more thoroughly understand the potential benefits of indigenous methods before dismissing them as retrogressive approaches.