Validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the oral assessment guide (OAG) in cancer patients

Abstract

Background. The Oral Assessment Guide (OAG) is a widely used tool designed for evaluating problems of oral mucous in cancer patients, but it has not been validated in Spanish. The aim of this work is to translate and validate into Spanish the scale of the OAG designed by Eilers.

Method. The translation process was carried out using the method of back-translation by bilingual translators. The study was carried out with cancer patients, both outpatient and inpatients, of the Hematology/Oncology Department and with oncology nurses. The following psychometric properties of the OAG were evaluated: internal consistency, concurrent validity with WHO’s mucositis scale, interjudge agreement between two different nurses. The perception of patients and nurses on the use of the OAG was also assessed.

Results. An adequate Spanish version of the OAG was obtained. All the participants (n=40) completed the study. Internal consistency measured by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.71 and interjudge agreement obtained a moderate to good Kappa index in the majority of items (k=0.4-0.81), except in “tongue and gums” (k=0.33-0.37). Concurrent validity with WHO mucositis scale was acceptable (r=0.458). All the nurses (n=6) considered that the scale was easy to understand and useful in clinical practice. The patients said that oral evaluation with the scale did not cause them discomfort.

Conclusions. The Spanish version of the OAG is a valid and reliable instrument in cancer patients. It is a scale that is easy to use in clinical practice and is well accepted by patients.