Validation of Thai version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry scale: Validation among Thai adults with physical disabilities

Abstract

Aim To validate the Thai version of the Health Literacy in Dentistry scale (HeLD‐Th) among Thai adults with physical disabilities. Methods The original Health Literacy in Dentistry (HeLD) was translated into Thai (HeLD‐Th). The final version of the HeLD‐Th was evaluated through a cross‐sectional study of 160 participants in Thailand. Interview questionnaires and oral examination were performed. The reliability and validity of the HeLD‐Th were determined. Results The internal consistency was acceptable, with an overall Cronbach's alpha of 0.76. The face and content validity were confirmed. Sufficient construct validity was revealed by exploratory factor analysis. The convergent validity (P ≤ .013) and discriminant validity (P = .017) were estimated. The concurrent validity and predictive validity were confirmed by significantly higher HeLD‐Th scores (P < .001). Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that approximately 60% of the variation in the HeLD‐Th scores was explained by the final model. Conclusion The HeLD‐Th has sufficient psychometric properties to assess the oral health literacy of Thai adults with mild to moderate disabilities. There are some limitations of the study due to the small sample size, and the results are specific to Thai adults with disabilities. Future studies using the HeLD‐Th scale are recommended.

The Associations between Oral Health Literacy and Oral Health-Related Behaviours among Community-Dwelling Older People in Thailand

“…We found that older participants were approximately 1.8 times more likely to have limited OHL (p = 0.035). This finding consists of a study from Thailand, which reported that older adults had inadequate oral health literacy than younger adults (Sermsuti-Anuwat & Pongpanich, 2019). Similar studies also mentioned the shortage of OHL among the elderly; therefore, enhancing oral health literacy is a solution to improve the oral health-related behaviours, oral hygiene practices, satisfaction with oral health, and oral health status of the elderly (Jones, Parker, Mills, Brennan, & Jamieson, 2014;Tenani et al, 2020).…”

“…A study from Australia conducted among 400 Indigenous adults reported that OHL scores were significantly associated with toothbrush ownership, toothbrush use, and dental care accessibility (Jones, Parker, Mills, Brennan, & Jamieson, 2014). A study carried out among Thai independent living adults also revealed that there were substantially significant positive correlations between OHL and toothbrushing behaviours and dental care visiting (Sermsuti-Anuwat & Pongpanich, 2019). In contrast, a research stidied among independent living and assisted living older people by Hjertstedt et al concluded that participants' characteristics and OHL levels could not predict the change of oral hygiene (Hjertstedt et al, 2014).…”

“…The sample size was calculated based on a previous study (Sermsuti-Anuwat & Pongpanich, 2019); therefore the sample size was 271 samples. Convenient community-dwelling older adults were invited to participate in the study.…”

Association Between Oral Health Literacy and Number of Remaining Teeth Among the Thai Elderly: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The sample size was calculated. We analyzed the proportion value based on a previous study, 21 in which 52.5% of the study participants presented OHL levels higher than the mean. Consequently, the sample size was 361 individuals, assuming a two-sided test and a significance level of less than 0.05 with a power of 80%.…”

Effectiveness of an individually tailored oral hygiene intervention in improving gingival health among community‐dwelling adults with physical disabilities in Thailand

“…A study from Spain has reported that persons with physical disabilities required specific assistance for improving gingival health status 22 . The oral health of Thai people with disabilities is affected not only by their disabilities and limited oral health literacy but also by physical and other barriers to accessing dental care services 5,23–25 . Consequently, normalizing daily oral hygiene is necessary to reduce gingivitis in these populations 6,26 …”