Reliability and Psychometric Validity of Perceptions on Utility of Outreach Dental Camp (PUODC-8) among Northwestern Population of India

Abstract

Introduction The community-based dental outreach programs play a very crucial role in declining the discovery–delivery disconnect by introducing awareness through health education and dental adumbrating services to the community members. Hence, the aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties and validate English and Hindi versions of Perception on Utility of Outreach Dental Camp-8 (PUODC-8) among the general population. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional and quantitative study was conducted on outreach patients with the dual purpose of PUODC-8 validation and analysis of the perception of the utility of dental camps among the general population. The questionnaire and factor analysis development were carried out in two stages: stage one is questionnaire development, followed by psychometric evaluation. The second stage comprises three analyses: (i) exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for construct validity, (ii) item response theory analysis, and (iii) internal consistency (IC) reliability analysis. Results For EFA that was accompanied by a Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin sampling adequacy measure of 0.69 and Bartlett’s sphericity test significance of 1 and difficulty between −4 and 4 were accepted. Overall, Cronbach’s alpha was 0.73 and IC reliability was 0.87. Conclusion A questionnaire should be ideal, easy, and simple, in a logical manner, and should be easy to understand. Based on our study findings, the PUODC-8 possessed acceptable psychometric properties with good construct validity and reliability results that would reflect the participants.

Keywords

• dental camp
• perception on utility of outreach dental camp-8
• psychometric properties
• reliability