Reliability of a questionnaire assessing experiences of adolescents in orthodontic treatment

Objective: To evaluate the reliability of a questionnaire that assessed the expectations and experiences of adolescent patients about orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: The study included two groups of patients: 30 consecutive patients (19 girls and 11 boys, mean age 14.6 years, SD 2.3 years) naive to orthodontic treatment, and 30 consecutive adolescent patients (17 girls and 13 boys, mean age 15.1 years, SD 2.0 years) in active orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances in both jaws. A questionnaire comprising 46 items was developed, based upon focus group interviews and previous established questionnaires. The questionnaire covered the following domains: Treatment motivation; treatment expectations; pain and discomfort from teeth, jaws, and face; functional jaw impairment; and questionnaire validity. Internal consistency as well as temporal stability with the test-retest method was investigated. Results: A majority of the questions exhibited acceptable test-retest reliability, and composite scores yielded excellent reliability for all domains. Internal consistency was acceptable and good face validity was found for all domains. Conclusion: The questionnaire can be recommended for use in the assessment of expectations and experiences of orthodontic treatment.