The effect of caries increment on oral health-related quality of life among adolescents in Brazil: a 3-year longitudinal study

This study aimed to assess the effect of caries increment on Oral Health-related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) of Brazilian adolescents and to evaluate the responsiveness of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ(11-14)) in this group. A population-based sample of 515 Brazilian 12-year-olds from a large city located in the southeast of Brazil was evaluated according to a random multistage sampling design at baseline and 291 at three years follow-up, using the DMFT index and the CPQ(11-14) instrument. To evaluate the responsiveness to change, the measures of effect size and longitudinal construct validity were used. It was verified that OHRQoL among adolescents with DMFT increment across the three years worsened significantly (p<0.05) in relation to their counterparts. The effect size varied from small to moderate. The longitudinal construct validity of CPQ(11-14) was satisfactory. Caries increment impacted on OHRQoL of adolescents in Brazil. The CPQ(11-14) instrument demonstrated acceptable responsiveness properties.