Abstract
The aim of the paper is to present the validation of a scale for assessing the impact of periodontal diseases on individuals' quality of life in Bulgaria. A pilot research was made among 30 diagnosed patients with periodontitis visiting the Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The minimum sample size of 30 people was established based on a power analysis for sample size calculation. The mean age of participants was 48.95 ± 11.85 years, being 56.67 ± 9.05 years for males and 43.33 ± 9.05 years for females. Standard interviews were conducted using a specific instrument: self-designed questionnaire and a 5-degree ranked scale, containing initially 11 questions. The interviews were repeated after 3 months with the same patients for retest analysis. The data was statistically processed using SPSS v.13 software. Results received after the initial interviews: Cronbach's coefficient (α=0.882), Spearman-Brown coefficient (r(sb)=0.998), average inter-item correlation coefficient (R=0.426), difficulty of the questions from 0.173 to 0.757 and discrimination power from 0.405 to 0.809. Results after the second interviews: α=0.883, r(sb)=0.998, R=0.507, difficulty from 0.287 to 0.757 and discrimination power from 0.524 to 0.809. In two of the questions, a low level of inter-item correlation with the rest of the items was found and they were excluded. The final version of the questionnaire contained 9 questions. The validation proved that the developed scale is sufficiently reliable and will be used in the final research, the first one to use such an instrument for measuring oral health-related quality of life in Bulgaria.
Highlights
Periodontal diseases in their most severe forms are one of the common oral diseases affecting 5-15% of the population in industrialized countries [1,2]
The purpose of this paper is to present the validation of a new original self-designed scale developed for assessing the impact of periodontal diseases on individuals’ quality of life (QoL) of adult patients
After the conduction of the above-explained pilot research with 30 patients diagnosed with periodontitis, the face and content validity of the instrument were confirmed
Summary
Periodontal diseases in their most severe forms are one of the common oral diseases affecting 5-15% of the population in industrialized countries [1,2]. Periodontal diseases involve structural and functional changes in the organs and tissues of oral cavity and are associated with gingival recession and formation of periodontal pockets. Alteration of the speaking and chewing functions can be observed in patients with periodontitis [3,4,5], which may cause other health-related problems and general diseases. Periodontal diseases are one of the main reasons for tooth loss among the population. A problem with a great social significance as it leads to a psychological trauma in patients, equivalent to the loss of any other organ. It might lead to limited social interaction and affect other daily activities
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