Design and psychometric evaluation of organizational determinants of prenatal dental services questionnaire in Iran.

Aims: The quality of prenatal dental services is essential for improving the oral health of both mothers and children. However, a lack of a reliable tool to assess the quality of prenatal oral care has hindered research in this area. To address this gap, the study aimed to validate the Organizational Determinants of Prenatal Dental Services Questionnaire (OD_PDS) in Iranian pregnant women.

Methods: Literature reviews, interviews, and a cross-sectional survey with 300 pregnant women were conducted. To evaluate the validity; face, content and construct validity were assessed. Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the Test-retest method were used for reliability assessment.

Results: The final version of the OD_PDS comprises 12 items, and four subscales, which are Costs (four items), Access to Equipment and services (three items), Review of the service delivery process (two items), and Professional Behavior (three items). Questions with a factor loading of less than 0.3 were excluded. The obtained fit indices were acceptable (X2/pdf = 3.383, RMSEA: 0.089, CFI = 0.869, and TLI = 0.820). The content reliability was demonstrated by Cronbach's α  = 0.702 and 0.713 and the ICC  =  0.724.

Conclusion: The current study indicates that the OD_PDS is a valid and reliable tool for Prenatal Dental Services assessment in health centers.