The Evaluation Of Oral Health- Related Quality of Life With The Short Forms Of The Child Perceptions Questionnaire

EVALUATION OF ORAL HEALTH RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE

Abstract

Objective: The study objective was to compare the performance of the complete Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ_11-14) and the short versions of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ_11-14) in evaluating the Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of a population of school children.

Methods: Two hundred secondary school children aged 11-14 years selected through the multi staged sampling technique from public and private secondary schools in Ile-Ife, completed the CPQ_11-14 a generic measure of OHRQoL including the short forms; CPQ_11–14 -ISF:16, CPQ_11–14-ISF:8, CPQ_{11– 14}-RSF:16 and CPQ_11–14-RSF:8. Criterion validity, construct validity and internal consistency reliability were assessed.

Results: The mean score for CPQ_11–14 -ISF:16 was 13.7 ± 7.2, CPQ_{11– 14}-RSF:16 had a mean of  14.0 ± 7.2. Mean scores for CPQ_11–14-ISF:8 and CPQ_11–14-RSF:8 were  6.6 ± 3.7 and 6.4 ± 4.0 respectively. The mean scores standardized to 0-100 were higher on the short forms than the original CPQ_11–14 except the CPQ_11–14-RSF:8, differences were significant between the original CPQ_11–14 and CPQ_11–14 -ISF:16 and CPQ_11–14 -RSF:16 (p < 0.05). There were strong significant correlations between scores of all short forms and original CPQ_11–14 (0.78-0.93; p < 0.001). All short forms were positively correlated with the ratings of oral health and overall well-being (p< 0.05). Cronbach's Alpha ranged from 0.59 - 0.74.

Conclusions: All short forms detected variability in children’s OHRQoL, they demonstrated excellent criterion validity and good internal consistency reliability. Further investigations to determine discriminant construct reliability are necessary.