Translation and validation of the Swedish version of the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) for adolescents

Abstract

Objective: The Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) is an instrument developed for assessment of orthodontic aspects of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). This study aimed to translate and validate the Swedish version of PIDAQ for use in Swedish adolescents 12-19 years of age.

Material and methods: The translation was made according to the process described in 'Guidelines for Establishing Cultural Equivalency of Instruments' by Ohrbach et al. Field testing was performed in a group of consecutive patients who were about to start orthodontic treatment (untreated group) and a group of consecutive patients who had recently finished orthodontic treatment (treated group).

Results: During the translation procedure, a Swedish version of PIDAQ was formed. In the field testing, a total of 144 questionnaires, 72 from untreated patients (mean age 14.6 years) and 72 from treated patients (mean age 17.3 years) were collected. The exploratory factor analysis detected two factors, which differs from the factor structure in the original questionnaire. The mean total PIDAQ score was significantly higher (p < .001) in the untreated group, 40.6 (20.3), than in the treated group, 9.4 (10.5), implying a high discriminant validity. Reliability was excellent, with internal consistency Cronbach's alpha values varying from 0.94 to 0.97.

Conclusion: The Swedish version of PIDAQ demonstrates good validity and excellent reliability and is suitable for future research on the effect of malocclusion on OHRQoL in Swedish 12- to 19-year-olds.

Keywords: Quality of life; adolescent; malocclusion; orthodontics.