Toward a Comprehensive Instrument of Oral Health Literacy in Spanish

Abstract

To develop and assess the Spanish Oral Health Literacy Scale (SOHLS) in a Mexican adult population, a repeated survey was undertaken in 227 adults. Participants were interviewed and asked to complete the SOHLS on the basis of the Health Literacy Test developed by the Educational Testing Service. The SOHLS covered literacy skills: location, integration, generation, calculation and return. Cronbach's α was obtained for internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficient for test–retest reliability. Construct validity was obtained comparing the test score with self perceived oral health and the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14). Mean age was 47.2 years (SD = 14.3 years). Average time for test completion was 24.6 ± 11 minutes; mean score was 24.2 ± 3.8 and Cronbach's α was .748; the intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.766. Spearman's correlation was 0.426 between the test and self perceived oral health. Pearson's correlation was −0.336 between the total test score and the OHIP-14. The instrument has good values of reliability; construct validity is significant but could be improved.