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Objective: To translate Oral Health Literacy – Adult Questionnaire from English to Odia language and test its psychometric properties and assess its influence on oral health status of school teachers. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed among 400; 116 (29%) males and 284 (71%) female school teachers of Bhubaneswar. OHL-AQ questionnaire subsequent to being translated to Odia language utilizing World Health Organization recommended translation back translation protocol was then tested for the establishment of its psychometric properties with assistance from the selected expert panel of academicians. The oral health status of participants was assessed using the WHO oral health assessment form-2013. Chi-square, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression were used for statistical analysis. Results: Internal consistency of OHL-AQ-O was acceptable with an alpha value of 0.70. Test-retest reliability showed almost perfect agreement (ICC=0.90, CI=0.85-0.93) indicating highly reliable translated scale (p=0.001). Overall mean oral health literacy scores were 13.02±1.86, with about 80% belonging to the high oral health literacy level group. Caries prevalence was 78%, with a mean DMFT of 3.04±2.55. Shallow pockets were absent majorly in teachers belonging to the high oral health literacy group (p=0.01). The multiple linear regression model depicted that only the teaching experience variable added significantly to the prediction (p=0.008). Conclusion: OHL-AQ-O questionnaire was found valid and reliable to measure OHL. Further application of the instrument in other communities and populations will support establishing the external validity of the OHL-AQ-O. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To establish the validity of COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) questionnaire and assess the stress with its associated factors during COVID-19 among dental professionals in Bhubaneswar, India. Material and Methods: An online survey through Google Forms was steered among 234 dentists. CPDI questionnaire was used for data collection post its validation assessment. Content validity was judged satisfactory by two psychiatrists, and excellent internal consistency was found (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92). For statistical analysis, chi-square and binomial logistic regression tests were used with a significance level of p=0.05. Results: 70 (29.9%) were males and 164 (70.1%) were females with a mean age of 30.58 ± 6.70 years. Around 50% had an MDS degree and were attached to an institution and nearly 80% were having experience of less than 10 years. The mean CPDI score was found to be 29.09 ± 15.47. A statistically significant association was observed between CPDI scores with age (p<0.003), gender (p<0.03), practice (p<0.06) and education (p<0.006). Binomial logistic regression revealed that odds of stress were 2 times higher among males than females (OR=2.01, p<0.04), which was statistically significant. Conclusion: Acceptable validation scores confirmed CPDI as an effective instrument for detecting stress. Importance of early interventions to combat the issue of stress among dental professionals as it is allied with negative consequences on health and furthermore affects daily activities is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the results of year long (December 2009 to January 2011) continuous measurements of daytime (0700-1745) ozone (O) in the ambient air and related meteorological parameters at Bhubaneswar (21°15N-85°15E), Odisha. The seasonal variation shows distinct daytime ozone maxima during winters with a peak in January (~85 ppbv), a slight increase (~38 ppbv) in June and lowest in August (~20 ppbv). The backward trajectory analysis during winter months suggests long distance transport of airmass from mainly Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and western part of Indian peninsula, a major industrial hub. In other seasons, wind reaches the observation site from less polluted landmasses and the Bay of Bengal, thereby considerably reducing the pollution load. On the contrary, ozone build-up was found to be maximum and minimum in pre-monsoon and monsoon, respectively. An anti-weekend ozone effect (~5 ppbv) was observed in winter. Paired t-test and F-test along with principal component analysis (PCA) were done to determine significance between various components (ozone, precursors and meteorological parameters). The t- and F-test showed significant monthly variation of ozone mixing ratio. The PCA showed that three components explained 79.1% of variances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]