Validation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Romanian Version of Oral Health Impact Profile in Edentulous Adults

Fully edentulism can substantially affect oral and general health as well overall quality of life and inappropriate treatment using classical prosthesis may impaired buccal function, increase alveolar bone loss and also is often unsatisfactory for most patients.

Implant-retained dentures provide successful long-term outcomes, particularly when used to rehabilitate the edentulous mandible (Assad et al. 2004; Chan et al. 1995; Davis et al. 1999). Results achievable with such prostheses are well known: the degree of stability, chewing efficiency, and ultimately patient satisfaction exceeds the benefits obtained with conventional denture treatment.

However few studies have addressed the perception of treatments outcomes by patients and is critically important to determine whether there are meaningful differences based on the type of retention used (Retentive Anchors, Magnets, Locator).

OHIP-EDENT (Oral Health Impact Profile in Edentulous Adults), the short form (19 items) of OHIP (Oral Health Impact Profile) detects the impact of oral health in the quality of life of patients who wear total prosthesis and include questions addressing masticatory capacity, pleasure of eating, level of comfort and relationship problems.

This questionnaire is validated in several languages but still not available in Romanian.

Material and methods

• Linguistic and cultural adaptation:

Because the OHIP EDENT had not previously been used in Romania, it was piloted to assess the face and content validity within the target population. The OHIP EDENT was linguistically and culturally adapted to our setting by using the back translation technique (according to guidelines provided by Beaton et al. 2000) in order to maintain cross-cultural equivalence. In this procedure, translations were independently made by two bilingual persons, who then discussed and produced a consensus Romanian version (T1 and T2 produced T12), which was translated back into English by two professional English translator (one native English) who had never seen the original version (BT1 and BT2 versions).

The conceptual equivalence between the original instruments and the back-translated versions was supported by an expert committee (formed by 3 researchers: methodologist, two experts on quality of life studies, and the four translators). The definitive Romanian version was produced after the face and content validity results in the pilot study had been approved by this committee.

• Pilot study:

Ethical approval and specific written consent were obtained from the relevant authorities before the pilot study were started.

The pilot study was conducted in a convenience sample (n=35) obtained from mandibular edentulous patients who came to the Dental School, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania and Concordia Dent Clinic, Bucharest. Participants were clinically examined according to the WHO (World Health Organization) methodology and completed the pilot OHIP EDENT.

The comprehensiveness of the instrument was tested by asking about difficulties in understanding items or frequencies, in order to optimize the face and content validity before the main study.

Reproducibility was evaluated by measuring test - retest reliability. Test-retest reliability was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The sample of 35 respondents fully edentulous was interviewed two weeks after the first interview.

• Main Study:

Patient satisfaction was assessed with the aid of OHIP-EDENT questionnaire validated initial (with the original denture), after 6 months and at 1, 3, 5 years post overdenture insertion.

Inclusion criteria

• Fully mandibular edentulous patients
• Complains about the stability of the existing mandibular denture satisfactory from a technical point of view.
• Acceptance of a mandibular over-denture retained by two endosseous implants.
• Patients agree to a 5-year follow-up period.

Exclusion criteria

• Insufficient bone volume (height and with) for inserting at least a 10 mm implant (Ø 4,1).
• Angle class II relationship.
• Physical severe consideration that will affect the minimal invasive surgical procedure or constitute a hindrance for a 5-year follow-up.
• History of radiotherapy in the head and neck region.
• History of pre-prosthetic surgery (including bone graft procedures) or previous oral implants.