Validity of self-report of oral conditions in older people

• Published in: Brazilian journal of oral sciences Vol. 18; p. e191670
• Main Authors: Arenas-Márquez, María Jesús, Tôrres, Luísa Helena do Nascimento, Silva, Debora Dias da, Hilgert, Juliana Balbinot, Hugo, Fernando Neves, Neri, Anita Liberalesso, Souza, Maria da Luz Rosario de
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Campinas 18-11-2019
• Subjects: Aged; Oral health; Reproducibility of results; Self-report
• DOI: 10.20396/bjos.v18i0.8657271
• EISSN: 1677-3225

Aim: To verify if self-report is a valid instrument to study the clinical oral condition in older people without cognitive deficit. Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted with 647 older people from the community, without cognitive deficit, living in Campinas, Brazil. A self-report questionnaire assessing the presence or absence of teeth (edentulism) and use of complete denture was applied, identifying the location of the denture, whether in the upper and/or lower arch. In the same session oral clinical exams were performed, considered the gold standard. The self-report validation was performed by calculating sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, odds ratios and Kappa agreement. Results: There were high percentages of sensitivity (95–99%), specificity (84–97%), positive (81–97%) and negative (95–98%) predictive values, obtaining an elevated level of confidence and quality intrinsic value of self-report. Agreement with the clinical examination was excellent for all variables (greater than 0.80). The likelihood ratios showed compelling evidence that with self-report an edentulous individual (+LR 32), non-edentulous (-LR 0.06) and absence of complete denture (-LR 0.01) could be correctly identified, with moderate evidence to identify the presence and location of complete denture use (+LR 6.5 to 6.9). Conclusion: Self-report is a valid instrument to study the clinical oral condition in the older people of the community.