A psychometric network perspective to oral health literacy: Examining the replicability of network properties across the general community and older adults from Brazil.

Objectives: To evaluate the replicability of oral health literacy (OHL) network models across the general community and a sample of older adults from Brazil.

Methods: Data were obtained from two oral health surveys conducted with a total of 1138 participants. OHL was measured using the short form Health Literacy in Dentistry scale (HeLD-14). A regularized partial correlation network was estimated for each sample. Dimensionality and structural stability were examined via exploratory graph analysis. Network properties compared included global strength, edge weights, and centrality estimates. Model replicability was examined fitting the general community model to the older participants' data.

Results: Six dimensions with the exact same item composition were detected in both network models. Only the Receptivity domain in the older adults sample yielded low structural stability. Strong correlations were observed between edge weights (τ: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.62-0.74) and between node strength estimates (τ: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.36-0.89). No statistically significant differences were found for global strength. The fit of the older adults sample to the HeLD-14 network structure of the general community sample was satisfactory.

Conclusion: Network models OHL replicated across the general community and a sample of older adults. The psychometric network approach is a useful tool to evaluate the measurement equivalence of OHL instruments across populations.