Cross-cultural adaptation of a quality of life questionnaire for individuals with oral potentially malignant disorders in the Brazilian context

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe the cross-cultural adaptation of a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire for individuals with potentially malignant oral diseases (OPMD) in the Brazilian context. This methodological study consisted of the following stages of content validation process: (1) Conceptual and item equivalence: stage during which a comprehensive literature review on the construct was performed; (2) Semantic equivalence. The extensive literature review showed that the questionnaire enables evaluation of QoL, and that domains and items are also considered and relevant to the Brazilian context. Semantic equivalence was evaluated as satisfactory by a committee of judges. The scope of the domains was analyzed according to the agreement rate and presented results equal to or greater than 84%. The general Content Validity Calculation (CVC) was 0.84 for clarity and 0.92 for representativeness. Of the 20 items, 18 presented CVC values above 0.8. The indicators for content validation, pre-test and operational equivalence indicate that the Brazilian version of the OPMD QoL questionnaire is a promising instrument and a tool that seems valid to evaluate the quality of life of people with oral potentially malignant disorders. As a next step, it is important to measure equivalences to evaluate the psychometric properties of this instrument.