The validity and reproducibility of an oral rating index as a measurement of gingival health care and oral hygiene level in adults.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity and reproducibility of an oral rating index (ORI) as a conceptual measurement of "gingival health care" level in adults. The study was conducted on 163 patients who received medical examinations and attended for dental checkups at a hospital. The score of the ORI was recorded as excellent (+2), good (+ 1), questionable (0), poor (-1) or very poor (-2). The validity of the ORI was investigated by comparing it with: Jackson's gingivitis index (GI); Greene & Vermillion's debris index (DI) and calculus index (CI); probing pocket depth (PPD); and percentage of bleeding on probing (%BOP). The intra- and inter-examiner reproducibility of the ORI was assessed on a flat screen using patients' color transparencies of the mouth. The ORI had significantly negative correlations with the GI, DI, CI, and PPD (p<0.001). The K values were 0.604-0.672 for intra-examiner reproducibility, and 0.441-0.449 for inter-examiner reproducibility. The present study suggests that the ORI has moderate to good intra-examiner and inter-examiner reproducibility. Mouth examination using the ORI appears to provide useful information that will enable a dental professional or health educator to make sensible decisions on the type and level of oral health instruction according to adults' gingival health care level.
Kawamura
M
M
Department of Preventive Dentistry, Hiroshima University School of Dentistry, Japan. makoto@ipc.hiroshima-u.ae.jp
Fukuda
S
S
Inoue
C
C
Sasahara
H
H
Iwamoto
Y
Y
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D005888:Gingival Pocket / Q000145:classification; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000145:classification; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D010512:Periodontal Index; D015203:Reproducibility of Results