Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Health Literacy Dental Scale (HeLD-14)

Nowadays, oral health literacy is an important and influential component on people's general health. One of the newest indicators in this field is 14-item Health Literacy in Dentistry (HeLD-14) questionnaire but it has never been applied in Persian. The purpose of the present study was to validate the usage of HeLD-14 among Iranians.  A consecutive sample (n= 400 adults) participated in this validation study. The subjects were selected by random sampling from those referring to dental clinics in Kerman .All participants self-completed the (standard forward & backward) translated HeLD-14. Construct validity was assessed by examining the correlation between HeLD-14 scores and self-reported oral health variables (referring to a dentist in the last year, oral health, perceived need to dental treatments & having removable prosthesis appliances). Reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha (for internal consistency) and corrected item-total correlation. Effect size (ES) and Standardized Response Mean (SRM) were calculated for the responsiveness of the scale and exploratory factor analysis was done by measuring Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO), Bartlett’s sphericity test and scree plot. The translated HeLD-14 had high reliability and validity. the subjects who had more dental needs based on their self-appraisal believed that they had more favorable oral health and had higher OHL level, and subjects who wore dentures had low OHL levels(P<0.05) indicated sufficient construct validity. Moreover, the confirmatory factor analysis and expletory of factor analysis was done. The findings of this study confirm the validity and reliability of the Persian version of HeLD-14.