Analysis of the reliability of the Italian Version of the Oral Behaviors Checklist and the relationship between oral behaviors and trait anxiety in healthy individuals

Abstract

Background

The Oral Behaviors checklist (OBC) is a valid 21-item instrument quantifying the self-reported frequency of oral behaviors. An Italian version (OBC-It) has been released recently.

Anxiety and oral behaviors are known to be associated in individuals with orofacial pain due to temporomandibular disorders (TMD). However, information about this relationship in pain-free individuals is still limited.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to test the reliability of the OBC-It and its reduced version (OBC-It 6), focusing on tooth clenching related wake time oral behaviors, and the effect of patient instructions on reliability. A second aim was to test the association between trait anxiety and oral behaviors in pain-free individuals.

Methods

282 TMD-free students, divided in two groups (Group A, n=139, mean age±SD = 22.6±5.4 years; group B, n=143, 23.7±4.2 years), filled in the State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory and the OBC-It. Group B received instructions about the OBC-It, while Group A did not. After two weeks (T1), both groups filled in the OBC-It again. However, group B was further divided in two subgroups, B₁ and B_2. The first received the same instructions again, while B₂ did not.

Results

The test-retest reliability of the OBC-It (A: ICC=.87, B1: ICC=.94; B2: ICC=.95) and OBC-It 6 (A: ICC=.85, B₁: ICC=.89, B₂: ICC=.93) was excellent in all groups. Trait anxiety was weakly associated with OBC-It only in females (R²=.043, P=.021).

Conclusions

The OBC-It is a reliable tool but further subjects' instructions may be needed. Trait anxiety has a limited effect on oral behaviors in TMD-free subjects.

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