Measurement equivalence of “touch-screen” versus “paper-based” assessments of ohrqol: A randomized crossover trial

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the measurement equivalence of computer touch screen assessment (CTSA) and paper based assessment (PBA) of the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14). Patients and Methods: A randomized crossover trial was conducted. Sixty participants were randomized to either i) Arm A: completed CTSA then PBA of OHIP-14, or ii) Arm B: PBA and then CTSA of OHIP-14 within the same day. User preference and time taken to complete the assessments were recorded. Agreement between CTSA and PBA was deter-mined using directional difference (DD), absolute difference (AD), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: There was no significant difference in CTSA and PBA OHIP-14 scores (P>0.05). The magnitude of the DD in scores between assessment methods was small for overall scores and all domains (<0.3). The AD in OHIP-14 scores was small (~6% for overall score, between 8–16% for domains). Agreement between CTSA and PBA was high (ICC=0.9; 95% CI=0.8–0.9) for overall OHIP-14 scores, but ICC values varied across domains. Most (78%) preferred CTSA. There was no significant difference in time taken to complete assessments (P=0.09). Regression analyses did not identify any significant socio-demographic factor associated with absolute difference between CTSA and PBA scores. Conclusion: There is equivalence of measurements in OHRQoL assessments from CTSA and PBA, and the time taken to complete assessment by either means is similar. There is a greater preference for CTSA. This has implications to support the use of CTSA in OHRQoL assessments.