Validity and Reliability of questionnaires measuring attitudes to oral health: A review of the literature

Abstract

Background: The instruments used to assess attitudes to oral health must be validated in order for their results to be reliable and comparable with other variables. The aim of this review was to analyze the ability of self-administered questionnaires to validly and reliably measure attitudes to oral health. Material and Methods: A bibliographic review was carried out using the following databases, Medline (PubMed), SCOPUS and Web of Science from the year 2016 to 2021, using the keywords: (questionnaire* OR survey*) AND (attitude* OR behav*) AND (“oral health” OR “dental care”) AND (validity OR reliability). Results: A total of 234 original articles were found in the databases, only 22 met the selection criteria, of which 13 were aimed at patients and nine at health professionals. Evidence of validity and reliability was determined using “COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INstruments” (COSMIN). Conclusions: Most of the articles partially meet the validity and reliability criteria.