A translation and validation of the French version of the Gothenburg Trismus Questionnaire 2 (F-GTQ-2).

Abstract

Limitation of mouth opening, widely known as trismus, is a major symptom altering quality of life in individuals presenting from temporomandibular joint disorder or head and neck cancer. A French-language instrument addressing jaw opening limitation following treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) or temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) is lacking. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Gothenburg Trismus Questionnaire-2 (GTQ-2) into French. A French translation of the GTQ-2 was performed according to established international guidelines, leading to the French-GTQ-2 (F-GTQ-2). The validation study included 154 participants with trismus (minimum interincisal opening of ≤35 mm) following treatment for TMD or HNC and 149 age-matched participants without trismus. All participants completed the F-GTQ-2 and participants with trismus completed additional health-related quality of life questionnaires to allow for analysis of convergent validity. The F-GTQ-2 demonstrated retained psychometric properties with Cronbach's alpha values above 0.70 for the domains, jaw-related problems, eating limitations, facial pain and somewhat lower for muscular tension (0.60). Mainly moderate correlations were found when comparing the F-GTQ-2 to other instruments, which was in line with the pre-specified hypotheses, indicating satisfactory convergent validity. Discriminant validity was found with statistically significant differences in all domains of the F-GTQ-2 between trismus and non-trismus participants. The F-GTQ-2 can be considered a reliable and valid instrument to assess jaw-related difficulties in individuals with trismus due to HNC or TMD.