Development and validation of a web-based version of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile - Preschool version.

BACKGROUND: The Child Oral Health Impact Profile - Preschool version (COHIP-PS) is the first validated questionnaire designed to assess the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of preschool children with varying oral health-related conditions.

AIM: To cross-culturally adapt the original version of COHIP-PS into Chinese and to, assess the psychometric properties of a web-based version of the COHIP-PS (eCOHIP-PS/C).

DESIGN: The eCOHIP-PS/C was first created using current guidelines. Then, the eCOHIP-PS/C was administered to caregivers having children 2-5 years old. The reliability of the eCOHIP-PS/C was estimated using Cronbach's alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Cross-cultural validity and convergent validity were also investigated.

RESULTS: The study included 260 children (mean age 4.3 years). The Cronbach's alpha of eCOHIP-PS/C was 0.903 and the ICC of the scale was 0.862. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) demonstrated that a four-component model was the best solution for the eCOHIP-PS/C. The fit indices were as follows: χ2 /df =2.176, TLI=0.942, CFI=0.946, GFI=0.927, and RMSEA=0.075. In addition, a good relationship was found between the eCOHIP-PS/C and the global oral health question.

CONCLUSION: The eCOHIP-PS/C is a reliable and valid tool for assessing the OHRQoL among Chinese preschool children.