Validation of the French version of COHIP-SF-19 among 12-years children in New Caledonia

Background: Assessment of Oral Health Quality of Life (OHRQoL) is now associated to clinical indicators in epidemiological studies. This study aimed to validate the French Short Form of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP-SF-19) and to assess the impacts of oral diseases among schoolchildren in New Caledonia (NC). Methods: A sample of 12-years-old children was selected in 2019 in NC. Dental status was recorded at school by calibrated examiners and children filled the French COHIP-SF-19 questionnaire. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, oral hygiene habits, perception of oral health problems were also collected through self-administered questionnaires or from the schools’ database. Results: Oral diseases were frequent in the study population (n= 693) with high social health inequalities. The COHIP scores ranged from 7 to 76 (57.9±9.96) with 96.4 % of the children having experienced oral health problems, 81.7 % functional impacts and 90.5 % socio-emotional impacts. Overall, the French COHIP-SF-19 showed satisfactory psychometric characteristics. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.80) and reproducibility excellent (ICC=0.9). Discriminant and concurrent validity were adequate. Indeed, children with less optimal social situation, impaired dental status, declaring severe dental problems or difficulties in accessing oral health care showed lower COHIP-SF-19 scores. Factor analyses suggested a four-component structure with identification of a new domain (self -image) and changes in the repartition of the items within the original domains. Sensitivity analyses showed similar results for children with partial or complete answers in the COHIP questionnaire. Conclusions: The French COHIP-SF-19 showed satisfactory psychometric characteristics and allowed to identify the high impacts of oral diseases in New Caledonian children, namely for socially deprived children.