Validade e confiabilidade de um questionário para avaliação das percepções de adolescentes sobre o tratamento ortodôntico

Abstract

Oral health-related quality of life instruments are increasingly used in research. However, many of these instruments are not validated in all countries or languages. The aim of this study was to validate the questionnaire developed by Feldmann (2007), assesing the perceptions of adolescent patients about orthodontic treatment (QPATO), in order to verify if, in the process of cross-cultural adaptation, the psychometric properties of the original questionnaire were maintained. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample composed of one hundred and sixty adolescents from the Orthodontics Clinic of the School of Dentistry of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (FOUERJ) and the Orthodontics Clinic of the Central Navy Dentistry (OCM), using the instrument previously translated into Portuguese in the form of self-completion. The questionnaire was applied to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, of both genders, divided into two groups: untreated adolescents (ANT) and adolescents undergoing orthodontic treatment (ATO). A trained orthodontist examined patients' teeth to record the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI) and the Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index (CPOD). The parents also filled out a socioeconomic form. The mean age of the patients was 14.39 (sd = 1.78), the majority female (54.37%; n = 87). Reliability was evaluated by assessing the instrument's internal consistency and stability, using Cronbach's alpha, the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Cohen's kappa index (k), respectively. Construct validity was assessed by cross-cultural validity and hypothesis testing. The Cronbach's alpha value for the ANT group was 0.7 and 0.9 for the ATO group. The instrument demonstrated excellent stability, with ICC> 0.9 for the ANT group. The k values showed a strong to almost perfect correlation (between 0.701 and 0.999) for the ATO group. The scores obtained in QPATO correlated positively with the DAI scores using the t test (p <0.01). No associations were found between QPATO scores and age group, gender, DMFT and patients' socioeconomic index. The Brazilian version of QPATO proved to be a reliable and stable instrument, with good psychometric properties and, therefore, can be considered an appropriate instrument to access adolescents' perceptions and expectations regarding orthodontic treatment.