Resumen de 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.