Translation and cultural adaptation of an Arabic version of the OBC-21

Objective: To develop and evaluate an Arabic version of the OBC-21 questionnaire for use among Levantine Arabic-speaking populations.

Methods: A structured translation and cultural adaptation process was performed for the OBC-21, followed by assessment of translational sufficiency and content validity. Reliability was tested with internal consistency, and test-retest reliability was evaluated.

Results: All 117 participants completed the survey twice, two weeks apart. The test-retest reliability of the OBC sum scores was excellent, with an ICC of 0.84 (95% CI = [0.77; 0.88]), and the reliability of OBC grades was very good, with a Cohen’s Kappa of 0.81. Internal consistency was also very good, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.8 (95% CI = [0.75; 0.8]).

Conclusion: The Arabic version of the OBC-21 seems to be a reliable tool for assessing oral behaviors. Future studies need to establish the construct validity of the tool in the clinical settings.