title: Development and validation of oral health-related early childhood quality of life tool for North Indian preschool children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable instrument [Oral Health related Early Childhood Quality of Life (OH- ECQOL) scale] for measuring oral health related quality of life (OHrQoL) in preschool children in North Indian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four pediatric dentists evaluated a pool of 65 items from various QoL questionnaires to assess their relevance to Indian population. These items were discussed with eight independent pediatric dentists and two community dentists who were not a part of this study to assess relevance of these items to preschool age children based on their comprehensiveness and clarity. Based on their responses and feedback a modified pool of items was developed and administered to a convenience sample of 20 parents who rated these items according to their relevance. The test retest reliability was evaluated on another sample of 20 parents of 2-5 year old children. The final questionnaire comprised of 16 items (12 child and 4 family). This was administered to 300 parents of 24-71 months old children divided on the basis of early childhood caries to assess its reliability and validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  OH-ECQOL scores were significantly associated with parental ratings of their child's general and oral health, and the presence of dental disease in the child. Cronbach's alpha was 0.862, and the ICC for test-retest reliability was 0.94.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The OH-ECQOL proved reliable and valid tool for assessing the impact of oral disorders on the quality of life of preschool children in Northern India.
authors.forename: Vijay Prakash
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Mathur
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Maulana Azad Institute of Dental Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Jatinder Kaur
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Dhillon
authors.forename: Ajay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Logani
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agarwal
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D000067576:Child Health; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000523:psychology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards