Validation of the Italian version of the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (IOHIP-14).

The original english version of Oral Health Impact Profile (IOHIP) was translated in Italian language, and then validated among a consecutive sample of patients attending in the dental ward at the Dental Institute of the "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy. The original english version of IOHIP-14 was translated into the Italian language by a professional translator and subsequently back-translated into English by an independent person and then validated. 852 person, 342 males (40.1%) and 510 females (59.9%) participated to this survey. The Cronbach's alpha of the scale was 0.90. No correlation was negative and the correlation coefficients extended form 0.27 (the correlation between "pain" "irritable") to 0.69 (the correlation between "totally unable to function" and "difficult to do jobs"). The coefficients ranged from 0.42 to 0.74 with no value above the drop-out value of 0.20 recommended for included an item in a 15 points scale. A highly significant relationship between the IOHIP scores and the perceived oral health status was observed. The subjects who perceived their oral health status to be poor had a higher IOHIP score than those thought their oral health status was good or fair. Similarly there was a significant relationship between the IOHIP scores and the perceived need for dental care. The translated Italian version of IOHIP-14 demonstrates an acceptable method to assess the impact of oral health on the quality of life, with evidence of reliability and validity, making it a promising instrument for assessing IOHIP in an adult population.