Translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Vietnamese Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ_8-10VN) for...

This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Vietnamese version of the Child Perceptions Questionnaire 8-10 (CPQ_8-10VN) for assessing oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in Vietnamese children aged 8-10 years.

Following forward-backward translation with cognitive pre-testing (n = 15), in this cross-sectional validation study conducted in an elementary school in Hue City, 234 children aged 8-10 years (mean age 9.1 ± 0.8 years; 50% boys) completed the CPQ_8-10VN and underwent oral examinations for caries and oral hygiene. A subsample of 37 9-year-olds repeated the questionnaire after 2 weeks. Internal consistency (Cronbach's α), test-retest reliability (ICC), construct validity (Spearman correlations), discriminant validity (t tests), and factor structure (exploratory factor analysis) were evaluated.

The CPQ_8-10VN showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha ranged 0.60-0.87) and strong test-retest reliability (ICC ≥ 0.82). The total CPQ_8-10VN score showed significant correlations with global oral health and well-being ratings (r ≥ 0.3, p < 0.05), while the subscale correlations ranged from 0.11 to 0.35. Discriminant validity was confirmed for caries (DMFT > 0) and untreated caries lesions (DT > 0), with significantly higher scores than caries-free peers, but not for calculus (CI-S > 0). Exploratory factor analysis (KMO = 0.84, eight factors) explained 63% of the variance but identified four items (sores, cold sensitivity, missed school, and homework difficulty) with poor loadings (≤0.50).

The CPQ_8-10VN demonstrates strong reliability and validity for measuring children's OHRQoL in Vietnam, though the eight-factor structure suggests cultural complexity beyond original domains.