Psychometric properties of a self-administered oral health literacy questionnaire for Brazilian adolescents.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the psychometric properties of a self-administered oral health literacy (OHL) questionnaire for adolescents, titled the Brazilian Oral Health Literacy-Youngs Questionnaire (BOHL-YQ).

METHODS

The study included adolescents aged 15 to 19 years enrolled in public schools in the municipality of Araruna, Paraíba, Brazil. Data on demographic, socioeconomic characteristics, and oral health-related behaviors were collected from 360 participants. The internal consistency of the BOHL-YQ was evaluated. To examine the dimensional structure of the instrument, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. Convergent validity was investigated through associations between BOHL-YQ scores and demographic, socioeconomic, and oral health-related behavioral variables.

RESULTS

A total of 348 questionnaires were analyzed. One item showed inadequate loading in the EFA of the 15-item version. The EFA of the 14-item version demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.71; McDonald's omega=0.72), a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin value of 0.77, and adequate fit for two domains: Cognitive and Comprehension/Decision-Making. The CFA indicated the model explained 84% of the variance. Higher OHL scores were found among female adolescents (p=0.006), urban residents (p<0.001), and those whose mothers had >9 years of schooling (p=0.014), did not receive government benefits (p<0.001), had a dental visit within the last year (p<0.001), and in private dental services (p=0.043).

CONCLUSION

In this context, the BOHL-YQ demonstrated good internal consistency and convergent validity, indicating that it is a valid and easily applicable instrument for measuring oral health literacy among Brazilian adolescents.