Validation of the Arabic Version of the Caries Questionnaire

Dental caries is a major public health problem. It has been estimated that 621 million children in the world have untreated dental caries . Dental caries always manifests with significant pain, affecting oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and well-being. Several measures were widely used to comprehensively evaluate the effect of oral diseases and disorders on children's OHRQoL. However, most of these measures were 'generic' measures, and they may fail to detect small, clinically important changes related to specific oral diseases. Gilchrist et al recently developed the Caries Impacts and Experiences Questionnaire for Children (CARIES-QC) in order to address this issue. Preliminary findings have confirmed that Caries Impacts and Experiences Questionnaire for Children measure had good reliability, validity, and responsiveness. However, The original CARIES-QC was an English measure; so appropriate translation and cultural adaptation should be done in order to be used in other culture and language.

Arabic is one of the most spoken languages in the world; however, the CARIES-QC has not yet been validated in Arabic speaking children. So the purpose of this study was to translate the CARIES-QC into Arabic and test the measurement properties of the Arabic version of the CARIES-QC for use in children with dental caries who speaks Arabic .

Inclusion criteria

• Child in age from 5-16 years .
• Child with active caries
• Child speaks Arabic.

Exclusion criteria

• Child with dental traumatic injuries .
• Child has oral mucosal diseases.
• Child has cleft lip and or palate .
• Child having severe medical or mental conditions.
• Child who cannot understand the question even with help