The Chinese version of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire among college students: factor structure and measurement invariance across genders.

BACKGROUND: The Oral Health-related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) is a multi-dimensional concept commonly used to examine the impact of health status on quality of life, and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) questionnaire is a good self-assessment tool. This study was designed to investigate the factor structure of the OHIP-14 scale Chinese version, measurement invariance and latent mean differences across genders among college students. METHODS: The online survey was completed by 919 college students. This study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to check the structural models of the OHIP-14 scale, The correlation of each item with the scale total score could test homogeneity, and Cronbach's alpha (Cronbach's α) could evaluate internal consistency. Multi-group CFA was used to explore whether the Chinese version of the OHIP-14 scale was used in male and female populations for measurement consistency. T-test compared scores between men and women. Regression analyses were used to evaluate the relationship between age, gender, education, subject, and the score on the OHIP-14 scale. RESULTS: We found that the 7-factor structure had the best fit index in the sample. According to Cronbach's α, the overall score of OHIP was 0.958, and Cronbach's α for 7 factors was: functional limitation was 0.800, physical pain was 0.854, psychological discomfort was 0.902, physical disability was 0.850, psychological disability was 0.768, social disability was 0.862, social handicap was 0.819 and the test-retest reliability interval was 0.723. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis supported residual measurement invariance across gender. T-test for scores showed that females scored higher significantly than men as did the overall score, in terms of physical pain (p<0.001), physical disability (p<0.001), and psychological disability (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study found the OHIP-14 Chinese version to be a good tool for assessing the college students' OHRQoL in China, allowing people to conduct self-assessments.

Structural equation modeling to detect predictors of oral health-related quality of life among Japanese university students: a prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: This prospective cohort study of Japanese university students aimed to identify factors that might affect oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and longitudinal relationships over a period of 3 years. METHODS: Students (n = 487) provided complete data before entering and 3 years later (before university graduation) participated in the present study. Decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) scores, community periodontal index, ratios (%) of teeth with bleeding on probing, and malocclusion were determined during oral examinations. The questionnaire addressed age, sex, self-rated oral health, oral health behavior, subjective oral symptoms, and OHRQoL determined using the oral health impact profile (OHIP)-14. Associations were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). RESULTS: The OHRQoL significantly worsened according to OHIP-14 total score (p = 0.001). The final model in the symptoms of SEM analysis showed that OHRQoL at follow-up positively correlated with OHRQoL at baseline. Self-rated oral health was directly associated with the OHRQoL at baseline (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study determined that OHRQoL at baseline was a direct predictor, and that self-rated oral health were indirect predictors of OHRQoL at follow-up among Japanese university students.