Mucositis is a frequent side-effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Assessment of oral cavity is important to
detect alterations in the mouth and plan appropriate interventions. A reliable tool can help to have a better assessment
of mucositis and a major knowledge about this phenomenon. Since no valid and reliable tool for the assessment
of mucositis is still available in Italy, the aim of this study was to establish the validity and reliability of the
Italian version of the Oral Assessment Guide (OAG). A panel of health care experts established the content validity
of the tool both for the items and the descriptors. To establish the reliability of the tool, a sample of 14 inpatients
with haematological diseases were recruited. Couples of dental hygienists separately performed 60 pairs of
assessments (for a total of 120 assessments) on the sample. The Italian version of OAG was found to have an acceptable
Content Validity Index (CVI) for items and related descriptors ranging between 0.67 and 1. Cronbach’s alpha
was 0.84, agreement of assessment ranged between 0.87 and 0.65 with Cohen’s Kappa coefficient ranging from
good to very good. This study showed that the Italian version of the OAG has good psychometric properties of
validity and reliability to assess mucositis in patients undergoing chemotherapy. This tool will have a great importance
to carry out future research in Italy aimed to improve the patient's outcomes particularly in terms of functional
ability and quality of life