Psychometric properties of the Scale of Oral-Health Outcomes in a Portuguese pediatric population – Exploratory study

Objectives: This exploratory study aimed to contribute to the validation of the Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for 5-year-old children (SOHO-5) for a Portuguese pediatric population. Methods: This cross-sectional study included children between 5 and 7 years old. The non-probabilistic sample included a school in Lisbon. Children who agreed to participate and whose guardians signed the informed consent were included. Data collection included a questionnaire and intraoral examination for the children and a self-administered questionnaire for their guardians. The questionnaires included the Portuguese adaptation of each SOHO-5 version (children’s and guardians’). The intraoral examination included caries diagnosis according to the World Health Organization’s criteria. The study of psychometric properties included the item frequency, item-total correlation, internal consistency (Cronbach's α), and test-retest (intraclass correlation coefficient - ICC). The Mann-Whitney U-test was used to assess discriminant validity and Spearman's correlation coefficient for criteria validity. All tests used a level of significance of 5%. Results: The sample included 60 children. Cronbach's α was 0.86 and 0.83 for the children’s and guardians’ SOHO-5 versions, respectively. The test-retest demonstrated an ICC of 0.82 (children’s version) and 0.95 (total score) (p<0.01), indicating good reliability. The guardians’ version showed discriminant validity, and both versions showed criteria validity (p<0.05). Conclusions: The Portuguese adaptation of SOHO-5 showed acceptable psychometric properties. However, studies with representative and bigger samples are necessary to confirm that SOHO-5 is a reliable and valid tool to measure the impact of oral health in Portuguese pediatric children.