Abstract:
Aims and Objectives
The study's primary aim is to assess psychometric properties and evaluate responsiveness of the Arabic version of the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (A-ECOHIS) in Benghazi, Libya.
Materials and Methods:
The methods of this study consists of two parts, part one for assessment of psychometric properties of A-ECOHIS by secondary data analysis of 681 Libyan children of 6 years old. The data used for this study was collected as part of oral health survey that was carried out in 2017 in Benghazi, the survey conducted for collecting primary data used a cross-sectional design and WHO diagnostic criteria to assess oral health status, treatment needs and OHRQOL of Libyan children. Part two for evaluation of responsiveness of A-ECOHIS for 89, 5-6 years old Libyan children. The study implemented a pre-and-post-intervention design. Participants consisted
of a convenience sample. All data were analyzed using SPSS (version 25) software at p-value ≤0.05.
Results:
A total of 681 mothers participated in the present study. The majority of mothers were housewives (57%), attained tertiary education (44.9%) and gain low income (59.3%) (< 500 LYD). In the child impact section, “pain in the teeth, mouth or jaws” was the most frequently reported item by the parents (63.9%). In the family impact section, the most frequently reported items were “been upset” (29.7%) and “felt guilty” (20.4%). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.88. The responsive sample included 89 participants. Mean ECOHIS scores in the whole sample for the whole scale prior to and following treatment are shown in figure 5.1. Higher mean scores (10.16±7.38) were reported before treatment received compared to mean scores after treatment received (4±5.32).
Conclusion:
This study showed that the Arabic-ECOHIS is a valid and reliable instrument to assess the negative impacts of oral disorders/conditions on the quality of life of 5–6 year old preschool children and their families in Libya. As well, results of the longitudinal study showed that the Arabic-ECOHIS
is sensitive and responsive to dental treatment of ECC.
