The German 19-item version of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile: translation and psychometric properties

Objectives: This study seeks to develop and validate the 19-item German version of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP-G19), an instrument to assess the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children and adolescents. Materials and methods: The 19 items of the original English-language COHIP were translated into German using an established forward–backward approach. For the assessment of the psychometric properties of the COHIP-G19, children and adolescents aged 7–17 years came from two samples: 112 patients were consecutively recruited at a university-based orthodontic clinic and 313 came from a convenience sample of students in public schools. Results: Internal consistency of the COHIP-G19 was satisfactory in both populations (Cronbach’s alpha, 0.78/0.80; average inter-item correlation, 0.16/0.17). The COHIP-G19 summary scores were correlated in the expected direction with a global oral health rating (r = 0.46/0.40) and two measures for perceived general health (EQ-5D-Y: r = 0.26/0.29; KIDSCREEN-27: r = 0.40/0.33). While COHIP-G19 summary scores did not significantly differ with respect to the presence of caries or gingivitis (p > 0.05), malocclusion and insufficient oral hygiene behavior were related to more impaired OHRQoL, represented in significantly lower COHIP-G19 summary scores in students in public schools (p < 0.05), but not in orthodontic patients. Conclusions: While this study revealed some potential to improve reliability and validity in scores of the German version of the COHIP-19, overall, the study proved the instrument has sufficient psychometric properties and is well comparable to the original English-language version. Clinical relevance: The COHIP-G19 is a valid and reliable instrument to assess OHRQoL in German children and adolescents in clinical and community settings.