[Design and validation of an oral health questionnaire for preoperative anaesthetic evaluation].
OBJECTIVE
Dental injuries incurred during endotracheal intubation are more frequent in patients with previous oral pathology. The study objectives were to develop an oral health questionnaire for preanaesthesia evaluation, easy to apply for personnel without special dental training; and establish a cut-off value for detecting persons with poor oral health.


METHODS
Validation study of a self-administered questionnaire, designed according to a literature review and an expert group's recommendations. The questionnaire was applied to a sample of patients evaluated in a preanaesthesia consultation. Rasch analysis of the questionnaire psychometric properties included viability, acceptability, content validity and reliability of the scale.


RESULTS
The sample included 115 individuals, 50.4% of men, with a median age of 58 years (range: 38-71). The final analysis of 11 items presented a Person Separation Index of 0.861 and good adjustment of data to the Rasch model. The scale was unidimensional and its items were not biased by sex, age or nationality. The oral health linear measure presented good construct validity. The cut-off value was set at 52 points.


CONCLUSIONS
The questionnaire showed sufficient psychometric properties to be considered a reliable tool, valid for measuring the state of oral health in preoperative anaesthetic evaluations.
Hospital Clínico Universitario, Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Valladolid, Espanha.
Gema
G
Ruíz-López Del Prado
Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Servicio de Medicina Preventiva y Gestión de Calidad, Madri, Espanha; Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Agencia de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias, Madri, Espanha.
Vendula
V
Blaya-Nováková
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Agencia de Evaluación de Tecnologías Sanitarias, Madri, Espanha; Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria, Madri, Espanha.
Zuleika
Z
Saz-Parkinson
Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor, Departamento de Otorrinolaringología, Madrid, Espanha; Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Departamento de Otorrinolaringología, Madri, Espanha.
Óscar Luis
ÓL
Álvarez-Montero
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, Madri, Espanha.
Alba
A
Ayala
Hospital Clínico Universitario, Unidad de Investigación Biomédica, Valladolid, Espanha.
Maria Fe
MF
Muñoz-Moreno
Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Escuela Nacional de Sanidad, Madri, Espanha. Electronic address: jforjaz@isciii.es.
Maria João
MJ
Forjaz
Dental injury; Higiene bucal; Lesão dentária; Oral health; Oral hygiene; Patient safety; Questionnaire; Questionário; Saúde bucal; Segurança do paciente