Confirmatory factor analysis of the C hild O ral H ealth I mpact P rofile (Korean version)

Empirical support for the factor structure of the Child Oral Health Impact Profile ( COHIP ) has not been fully established. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the factor structure of the Korean version of the COHIP ( COHIP ‐K) empirically using confirmatory factor analysis ( CFA ) based on the theoretical framework and then to assess whether any of the factors in the structure could be grouped into a simpler single second‐order factor. Data were collected through self‐reported COHIP ‐K responses from a representative community sample of 2,236 Korean children, 8–15 yr of age. Because a large inter‐factor correlation of 0.92 was estimated in the original five‐factor structure, the two strongly correlated factors were combined into one factor, resulting in a four‐factor structure. The revised four‐factor model showed a reasonable fit with appropriate inter‐factor correlations. Additionally, the second‐order model with four sub‐factors was reasonable with sufficient fit and showed equal fit to the revised four‐factor model. A cross‐validation procedure confirmed the appropriateness of the findings. Our analysis empirically supported a four‐factor structure of COHIP ‐K, a summarized second‐order model, and the use of an integrated summary COHIP score.