Validity and Reliability of the Brazilian Version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry – BREALD-30

OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to translate, perform the cross-cultural adaptation of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry to Brazilian-Portuguese language and test the reliability and validity of this version. METHODS After translation and cross-cultural adaptation, interviews were conducted with 258 parents/caregivers of children in treatment at the pediatric dentistry clinics and health units in Curitiba, Brazil. To test the instrument's validity, the scores of Brazilian Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry (BREALD-30) were compared based on occupation, monthly household income, educational attainment, general literacy, use of dental services and three dental outcomes. RESULTS The BREALD-30 demonstrated good internal reliability. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.88 to 0.89 when words were deleted individually. The analysis of test-retest reliability revealed excellent reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.983 and Kappa coefficient ranging from moderate to nearly perfect). In the bivariate analysis, BREALD-30 scores were significantly correlated with the level of general literacy (rs = 0.593) and income (rs = 0.327) and significantly associated with occupation, educational attainment, use of dental services, self-rated oral health and the respondent's perception regarding his/her child's oral health. However, only the association between the BREALD-30 score and the respondent's perception regarding his/her child's oral health remained significant in the multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION The BREALD-30 demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and is therefore applicable to adults in Brazil.