Is the short-form Child Perceptions Questionnaire meaningful and relevant to children with malocclusion in the UK?

Objective: To explore the face and content validity of the 16-item short-form of CPQ11-14 (CPQ ISF-16), an oral health-related quality of life measure (OHRQoL) measure, with young people with malocclusion in the UK.

Design: Qualitative study.

Setting: Interviews about CPQ ISF-16 were conducted in participants' homes.

Subjects And Methods: The sample included 10 participants aged 12-14 years attending an orthodontic clinic of a dental hospital in the UK. All participants were judged to be in definite need of orthodontic treatment.

Interventions: The interviews covered the impact of malocclusion on young people's daily lives and participants were then asked to complete CPQ ISF-16 and describe their interpretation of the meaning of questions, any ambiguities of wording and comment on the layout of the questionnaire and response format.

Results: Having a malocclusion 'bothered' young people to varying degrees. For those participants for whom having a malocclusion impacted on their lives, concerns were about self-consciousness with dental appearance. On analysis of the content validity some items were felt to be relevant to the impact of malocclusion, particularly questions from the emotional and social well-being subscales; however, other questions were felt not to be relevant. Concerns about face validity were expressed about several facets of the measure including the response format, the use of 'double' questions and interpretation of certain words.

Conclusion: Concerns were expressed by young people with malocclusions about the face and content validity of CPQ ISF-16. Further consideration should be given to the need for a child-centred malocclusion-specific OHRQoL measure.