Patient-centred outcome measures in oral medicine: are they valid and reliable?

Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2002 Dec;31(6):670-4. doi: 10.1054/ijom.2002.0260.

Abstract

The present study evaluates the performance of patient-centred outcome measures in the oral medicine setting in patients with oral lichen planus. The study included 48 patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of oral lichen planus who completed a questionnaire incorporating two patient-centred outcome measures: the 16-item UK Oral Health Related Quality Of Life Measure (OHQOL-UK) and 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14). They subsequently underwent an oral examination and rated the pain they experienced on a visual analogue scale (VAS). The impact of oral health on their life quality was considerable with physical, social and psychological consequences. Both OHQOL-UK (P<0.01) and OHIP-14 scores (P<0.01) were associated with clinical findings; demonstrating criterion validity. Patient rating of pain experienced (on a VAS) correlated with OHQOL-UK scores (P<0.01) and OHIP-14 (P<0.01); demonstrating construct validity. The mean inter-item correlation for OHQOL-UK was 0.93 and was 0.90 for OHIP-14; demonstrating high internal consistency reliability. Our results suggest both OHQOL-UK and OHIP-14, patient-centred outcome measures perform well in patients with oral lichen planus, demonstrating validity and reliability. This implies patient-centred outcome measures may be utilized in both oral medicine and oral and maxillofacial surgery to assess patient needs and opinions.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Attitude to Health
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Lichen Planus, Oral / physiopathology
  • Lichen Planus, Oral / psychology
  • Lichen Planus, Oral / therapy*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Oral Health
  • Pain Measurement
  • Patient-Centered Care* / statistics & numerical data
  • Quality of Life
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Social Behavior
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Treatment Outcome