Development and validation of an instrument to assess oral health literacy in Norwegian adult dental patients

Abstract

Objective: To develop and validate an interview instrument to assess oral health literacy in Norwegian adult dental patients. <p/>Materials and methods: The instrument, Adult Health Literacy Instrument for Dentistry (AHLID), was based on an OECD instrument used to assess general literacy in adults. 130 Norwegian adults (mean age 48 years; 57% women) participated. AHLID included a selection of oral health related printed texts that ranged from 1 to 5 with respect to difficulty. A questionnaire regarding socio-demographic variables and knowledge of risk factors for oral disease was used. DMFT, stimulated salivary flow rate and streptococcus mutans and lactobacillus in saliva was also examined. <p>Results: The Cronbach’s alpha values of AHLID were 0.98 for internal consistency reliability (p<0.01) and 0.81 for test-retest reliability (p<0.05). AHLID score 3 was most frequent while very few fulfilled the criteria for score 1 and 5. Linear multiple regression analysis showed that lactobacillus in saliva and knowledge of risk factors for periodontitis and caries were predictor variables of AHLID score. <p>Conclusions: AHLID appears to be reliable and valid to assess oral health literacy in Norwegian adults, and suggests a method for country-specific health literacy instruments.