| Population-based data about Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQOL) are lacking for Germany.; Using the German version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-G, 53 items), the aims of this study were to determine the distribution of impaired OHRQOL in the population, to explore the dimensional structure and to develop short forms of the German OHIP.; The OHIP-G was administered in a personal interview to 2050 subjects (Proportion of subjects responding: 60%) between 16--79 years of age. Subjects were sampled using a multistage sampling technique in a national survey. Prevalence was calculated for any impairment and for problems mentioned by an individual as occurring fairly often or very often. A prevalence range of 13--59% for any impairment in the past month on all items was observed. Frequent problems were rare (all items: ≤6%). Rotated principal components analysis was used to derive a summary score and to explore the dimensional structure of the OHIP-G. The first principal component explained 50% of the variance in the data. The sum of item responses was highly related to the first principal component (r = 0.99) and was considered an informative OHIP summary measure. Four dimensions (psychosocial impact, oral function, orofacial pain, appearance) were found.; Validity, reliability, and responsiveness of a 5-item short OHIP-G form, derived by best subset regression, a 21-item version, derived by exploratory factor analysis, and two 14-item English-language versions were tested in different samples (general population, N = 163; patients with prosthodontic treatment need, N = 30; patients with temporomandibular disorders, N = 242). A priori hypothesized associations between the short form summary scores and self-report of oral health and five oral conditions were confirmed and interpreted as support for construct validity. Test-retest reliability was demonstrated by intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.72--0.87. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha: 0.65--0.92). The instruments' responsiveness was indicated by effect measures of 0.55--0.95.; OHRQOL prevalence data might help to allocate health care resources. The four identified OHIP-G dimensions might serve as a parsimonious set of OHRQOL dimensions in general. Sufficient discriminative and evaluative psychometric properties of OHIP-G short forms make them suitable for assessing OHRQOL in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in different settings. |
