Content Validity and Test-Retest Reliability Study of Oral Cancer Awareness Questionnaire.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Targeted and validated questionnaire is a vital tool in assessing oral cancer awareness (OCA) in the community. This study is aimed at validating a targeted oral cancer awareness questionnaire for people living in Far North Queensland.

METHODS

This study was conducted in a Far North Queensland population attending the student led university dental clinic in Cairns. The questionnaire consisted of four domains: sociodemographic information, awareness and knowledge on oral cancer, PMDs and risk factors, source of information for oral cancer and PMDs and exposure to known risk factors such as habits and dietary history. The first stage of this study assessed content validity of questionnaire with clinical experts while the subsequent stage evaluated its reliability in a test-retest study amongst 30 dental patients attending the clinic for routine care. Analysis was performed using SPSS software and appropriate Kappa tests were run for each question to assess the reliability.

RESULTS

In first stage, out of the 25 questions, 22 showed a validity index of 1, suggesting high agreement between two clinical experts that assessed validity with the overall content validity index at 88%. In test-retest reliability study involving 30 participants, 30 out of 38 items (including multiple choice questions converted to binary statements) showed an item content validity index (CVI) of 1 as evidence of full agreement. The OCA questionnaire had 'almost perfect' or 'perfect agreements' for questions related to tobacco smoking: exposure (Fleiss Kappa = 1), duration (Weighted Kappa = 1), and as a risk factor (Weighted Kappa = 1), smoking status (k = 0.94) along with alcohol consumption duration (Weighted Kappa k = 0.91).

CONCLUSION

The OCA questionnaire items showed acceptable content validity and test-retest reliability. Based on the preliminary evidence of acceptable reliability for specific items, this questionnaire can be employed for studies investigating OCA in adults living in Far North Queensland.