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This study aimed to develop and rigorously evaluate the Test of Oral Health Literacy in Adults (TOHLA) for the Iranian population, addressing the limitations of existing oral health literacy (OHL) measurement instruments and contributing to the literature on OHL assessment. The development of the TOHLA involved a qualitative approach, which included a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with a panel of 15 experts from diverse fields and 22 Iranian adults aged 18 to 64 years. The instrument was designed with 48 items categorized into four domains: cognitive skill, communication skill, media skill, and functional skill. Content validity was established through expert input and content validation indices. Construct validity was supported by factor analysis, and concurrent validity was assessed by comparing TOHLA scores with demographic variables. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability analyses were performed to assess the instrument's reliability. The psychometric evaluation of the TOHLA demonstrated strong content validity, construct validity, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. The instrument exhibited a high level of internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.81 for the entire scale. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory, with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.83. Concurrent validity analysis showed statistically significant associations between OHL scores and demographic variables, supporting the instrument's overall performance. The TOHLA overcomes the weaknesses observed in existing instruments and offers a comprehensive tool with strong psychometric properties to assess the OHL of the Iranian adult population. Researchers, policymakers, and healthcare providers can utilize the TOHLA to address oral health challenges and enhance overall oral health outcomes among Iranian adults.

Objectives: Identifying those with inadequate oral health literacy is difficult because little is known about its various multiple dimensions. Accordingly, the present research investigated dimensions of the concept using a qualitative approach., Method: Participants (n = 15) who met inclusion criteria (Including having expertise in the fields of general dental, social dental, and health education and health promotion and having at least 5 years of relevant working experience) were recruited by purposive sampling via the public health and dentistry faculty in Tehran between December 2018 and October 2019. Thematic analysis was used to assess the data., Results: A total of 15 specialists (ranging in age from 28 to 61, mean 44) were included in the study. Their working experience averaged 15.5 years (SD = 7.7, Min = 6, Max = 30). Independent analysis of qualitative data by three researchers led to identification of seven themes and 18 sub-categories, including need perception (feeling the need and paying attention to meeting the need), emotional literacy (valuation of oral health, formation of personality and taking care of oral health), planning literacy (planning and goal-orientation), communicative literacy (choice in decision-making, interpersonal communication skill and claiming), behavioural literacy (self-care), cognitive literacy (knowledge, information comprehension, information use, and information analysis) and media literacy (the ability to use up-to-date technologies, the ability to search for and acquire the information, and judgment)., Conclusions: Our findings provide insights into the dimensions of oral health literacy. It is hoped that these findings can be used to guide the development of interventions on OHL and that aspects of the concept can help to enhance levels of OHL and help to promote health at societal level., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: This article aims to provide a description of conceptual dimensions and psychometric properties of the tools of oral and dental health literacy., Methods: Two authors in this study conducted electronic searches in the Medline (via PubMed), and Embase databases to find relevant articles from 1990 to present day. Evaluation of the tools was carried out in two parts; general evaluation of the tools using skills introduced by Sørensen et al., and qualitative assessment of psychometric properties using COSMIN checklist., Results: After reviewing 1839 articles on oral and dental health literacy and evaluating 33 full text articles for eligibility, 21 articles entered the study. The sample size varied from 20 to 1405 subjects and the items of each tool ranged from 11 to 99 items. Of the 21 tools examined, 16 tools were evaluated for word recognition. For the studies examined, the evaluation of COSMIN scores was often fair or good. Of the 21 tools examined, 9 tools at least in one dimension were in the category of "poor", 19 tools were in the category of "fair", 20 tools were in the category of "good", and 4 tools were in the category of "excellent" in at least one dimension., Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that some aspects of oral and dental health literacy are being ignored in the existing tools. Therefore, the authors of present study emphasize on the necessity to design and develop a comprehensive tool and take into account two characteristics of simplicity and briefness for international use.

Background and Objectives: It is important to note that Oral Health Literacy (OHL) not only pertains to dental health but also has a broader impact on overall quality of life. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to assess the level of OHL in the adult population of Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: A sample of 700 Iranian adults (Tehran), aged 18-64 years, participated in this study (October 2021 and March 2022). A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic variables and OHL. The questionnaire consisted of four domains: cognitive, behavioral, media, and communication skills. The data was analyzed by software SPSS 19. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square tests, and multiple regression analysis. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The average age of the subjects was 35.50±8.87 years, ranging from 18 to 61 years. The mean OHL score was 67.62±15.53, indicating a moderate level of OHL. Among the dimensions of the questionnaire, cognitive skills received the highest scores and Communicative skill lowest. The results revealed significant associations between OHL and demographic variables. Multiple regression analysis showed that income, education level (academic and below diploma), and marital status (married) significantly predicted OHL. Conclusion: This study highlights the need for improved OHL in the Iranian adult population. The findings suggest that educational interventions targeting loweducated individuals and specific demographic groups could help enhance OHL. Efforts should be directed towards improving communication skills in oral health settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that physical activity can improve health, the present study was conducted to affect education based on the theory of planned behavior on the promotion of physical activity and awareness in the prevention of diabetes in students. This parallel quasi-experimental study with two equal groups of intervention and control was carried out in three stages by multistage sampling method. Students who were physically ill or had absence were excluded from the study. Only the intervention group received the required intervention and the evaluation was done before, immediately after and 3 months after the intervention in both groups. The educational program was implemented in various forms such as oral, pamphlets, brain storming, group discussions, role play for behavior modeling, and written media such as posters, and exercise demonstrations. Data collection was performed in primary schools of Mashhad. The questionnaire was contained; demographic information, diabetes awareness, physical activity based on the theory of planned behavior and physical activity (IPAQ). Data analysis was done by SPSS-16 software using Fisher's exact test, Chi-square, and marginal longitudinal models at the significance level of 0.05. The mean scores of knowledge (p < 0.001), subjective norm (p < 0.001), perceived behavior control (p = 0.015) and physical activity (p < 0.001) immediately after the intervention were higher in the intervention group compared to the control group and the differences were significant. Results of this study supported the effectiveness of education based on theory of planned behavior in the promotion of physical activity and knowledge of students regarding diabetes prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Investigate the health literacy of pregnant women in the south of Iran. Materials and methods: The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 775 pregnant women in the south of Iran (including Boushehr, Ahvaz, Zahedan and Bandar Abbas cities) through the clustering sample selection method. The data were collected through the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults: TOFHLA, and were analyzed statistically via SPSS 16 through independent-sample t-test and ANOVA. Results: The average age of the subjects was 31.89 ± 7.54 years. The results indicated that 15.5% of the subjects had an inadequate level of health literacy; 41.7% had a border-line level of health literacy, and 42.8% had an adequate level of literacy. Significant correlations were found between each of these variables and the subjects' level of health literacy: education, age, occupation and care provision during pregnancy (p ˂ 0.05). The highest mean score of health literacy belonged to Ahvaz while the lowest belonged to Boushehr. Conclusion: According to the results, the health literacy level of pregnant women in the target geographical areas showed to be inadequate or on a border-line. Moreover, subjects' education, age and occupation showed to be significantly correlated with health literacy. Therefore, promoting pregnant women's health literacy through simplifying health-related information, use of audio-visual media, improving communicative skills among the health staff and mothers can be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]