Comparison of two rating scales with the orofacial esthetic scale and practical recommendations for its application

Differential Item Functioning of the Jaw Functional Limitation Scale

AIMS

To assess the differential item functioning (DIF) of the Jaw Functional Limitation Scale (JFLS) due to gender, age, and language (English vs Spanish).

METHODS

JFLS data were collected from a consecutive sample of 2,115 adult dental patients from HealthPartners dental clinics in Minnesota. Participants with missing data were excluded, and analyses were performed using data from 1,678 participants. Whether the item response theory (IRT) model assumptions of essential unidimensionality and local independence held up for the JFLS was examined. Then, using Samejima's graded response model, the IRT log-likelihood ratio approach was used to detect DIF. The magnitude and impact of DIF based on Raju's noncompensatory DIF (NCDIF) cutoff value of 0.096, Cohen's effect sizes, and test (or scale) characteristic curves were also assessed.

RESULTS

Essential unidimensionality was confirmed, but locally dependent items were found on the JFLS. A few items were flagged with statistically significant DIF after adjustment for multiple comparisons. The NCDIF indices associated with all DIF items were < 0.096, and they had small effect sizes of ≤ 0.2. The differences between the expected scores shown in the test characteristic curves were little to none.

CONCLUSION

The present results support the use of the JFLS summary score to obtain psychometrically robust score comparisons across English- and Spanish-speaking, male and female, and younger and older dental patients. Overall, the magnitude of DIF was relatively small, and the practical impact minimal.

DENTAL PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES UPDATE 2022

Much progress has been made this year in patient-reported outcomes related research. A number of important articles were published, shedding light on relevant methodological issues as well as future directions. In order to further promote the wide use of dental patient-reported outcomes (dPROs) and dental patient-reported outcome measures (dPROMs) in dental research and dental practice, and to provide novel insights into relevant measurement and analytical methods, the Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice has put together this special issue, the second of a series entitled Dental Patient-Reported Outcomes Update. To put Special Issue articles into a broader perspective, this review will provide a concise summary of key, relevant PRO and dPRO articles published during the year of 2022. A brief introduction of those manuscripts collected in this Special Issue follows. Six main domains are covered in this Special Issue: (i) the availability and applicability of dPROs and dPROMs, (ii) the current usage of dPROs and dPROMs in published research, (iii) methodological considerations in dPRO-related research, (iv) the landscape and trends of dPRO-related research, (v) the significance and relevance of dPRO usage, and (vi) dPROs and value-based oral health care.