DOI: 10.1177/0265539x261475102 ISSN: 0265-539X

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Turkish version of the health literacy in Dentistry Scale-29 (HeLD-29)

Gizem Ayan, Bengü Doğu Kaya, Mehmet Buldur

Objective: To perform the cultural adaptation of the Health Literacy in Dentistry Scale-29 (HeLD-29) for Turkish adults and to evaluate its validity and reliability. Design: The Turkish version of the HeLD-29 was adapted through a forward–backward translation procedure consistent with the original 29-item, seven-subscale structure. The scale was first translated into Turkish by two independent translators and then back-translated into English by two different translators. The final analytical sample included 298 adults aged 19–70 years (117 females, 181 males). To assess temporal stability, 60 randomly selected participants completed the scale again after 7–10 days. Results: Test–retest reliability demonstrated excellent agreement using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC = 0.912; p < 0.001). The Spearman rank-order correlation also indicated very strong temporal stability (r = 0.920; p < 0.001). After excluding two outliers, EFA revealed adequate communalities (0.546–0.894) and supported the multidimensional structure, with the final 26-item version explaining 78.07% of the total variance. Internal consistency was high across subscales (α = 0.84–0.93) and for the total scale (α = 0.936), and split-half coefficients further confirmed strong reliability. CFA verified the validity of the multidimensional construct, demonstrating acceptable model fit after minor modifications (RMSEA = 0.063; GFI = 0.900; AGFI = 0.850; CFI = 0.943; χ 2 = 606.465; p < 0.001). Conclusion: The Turkish version of the HeLD-29 was demonstrated to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing oral health literacy in Turkish adults.

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