Cross-cultural adaptation of the Arabic version of the DHEQ-15

Many patients who suffer from Dentine Hypersensitivity (DH) often go undiagnosed because they do not consider DH as serious problem that requires treatment. The use of patient-reported outcome measures can help in diagnosis and management of DH problems. The aim of the present study was to adapt cross-culturally the original English version of the Dentine Hypersensitivity Experience Questionnaire (DHEQ-15) for use in Arabic-speaking countries.

An Arabic version of DHEQ-15 was first developed by forward-backward translation and piloted among a group of dental patients. A cross-sectional study design was then used to test the psychometric properties of the Arabic DHEQ-15 in a wider convenience sample of Libyan dental patients diagnosed with DH. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the three-dimensional distribution of the subscales. The significance level of all statistical tests was set at p ≤ 0.05.

The Arabic DHEQ-15 demonstrated good face and content validity. A total of 462 participants aged, on average, 39.2 ± 12.9 years took part in the psychometric testing of the Arabic DHEQ-15. The overall Cronbach's alpha of the questionnaire was 0.91, and overall Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for test-retest repeatability was 0.914. Participants with more severe DH had a significantly higher DHEQ-15 score than those with less severe DH (p < 0.001). Those who reported better global rating of their oral health had lower scores on the Arabic DHEQ-15 (p < 0.001). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed three subscales of the Arabic DHEQ-15.

The Arabic DHEQ-15 has been developed and further testing has demonstrated acceptable levels of psychometric properties in an Arabic population. The Arabic DHEQ-15 is a reliable measure of the quality-of-life impact of DH for use with Arabic-speaking populations.