Evaluation of the Reliability of the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) in Institutionalised Elderly in Romania: A Pilot Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the preliminary psychometric properties of the Romanian version of the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) in a sample of institutionalised elderly Romanian. Methods: The 12 items in GOHAI were translated into Romanian using a back-translation technique. A pilot study approved by the local ethics committee of the university assessed the comprehensibility of the Romanian (RO) version. Forty-five institutionalised elderly answered the questionnaire. A clinical examination with three calibrated dentists was then performed. Reliability was measured with Cronbach’s alpha and test–retest analysis using statistical software. Results: The mean GOHAI-Ro item scores were higher for elderly people who perceived negative impact on the quality of life, especially for physical function. Lower GOHAI-Ro scores were associated with a positive impact on the quality of life, such as satisfaction with teeth. Cronbach’s alpha greatest value (0.7123) was reached when only 11 items were used. One of the 12 GOHAI-RO items had a negative item-total correlation, -0.797, and three others had low values. Test–retest correlation, with a value of 0.6990 for intra-class correlation coefficient, indicated moderate stability. Conclusions: The preliminary analysis of the GOHAI-Ro demonstrated moderate reliability. Elimination of the negative and low score items may be indicated after a further, larger study.