Comparing the impact of oral disease in two populations of older adults: application of the geriatric oral health assessment index.
OBJECTIVE
This study compares the distributional and psychometric properties of the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) in two samples of older adults, and examines how the self-perceived impact of oral disease, as measured by the GOHAI, varies in accordance with sample sociodemographic and health characteristics.


METHODS
Results are based on survey data from two samples of older men: a Medicare sample of patients using community physicians (n = 799; mean age = 74) and users of VA ambulatory health care (n = 542; mean age = 72).


RESULTS
The findings indicate significant differences between samples in mean GOHAI scores, with the VA sample exhibiting worse scores. A number of similarities in psychometric properties of the instrument across the two samples were found: high internal consistency reliability and similar inter-item and item-scale correlations. Factors analyses revealed somewhat different structures between the two samples, but explained similar amounts of variance; regression analyses indicated that income and self-rated oral health were significant predictors of GOHAI scores in both samples.


CONCLUSIONS
The GOHAI exhibits satisfactory psychometric properties in both samples of older men. Results suggest continued use of the GOHAI as an indicator of the impact of oral conditions on functioning and well-being in a variety of samples.
Kressin
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Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research, VAMC, Bedford, MA 01730, USA. nkressin@bu.edu
Atchison
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Miller
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D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003710:Demography; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005544:Forecasting; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D009909:Oral Health; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States