Further reliability and responsiveness of the Chronic Oral Mucosal Diseases Questionnaire

Abstract

To test the reliability and responsiveness of the Chronic Oral Mucosal Diseases Questionnaire (COMDQ), in measuring the quality of life (QofL) in patients with chronic oral mucosal conditions. A random sample of 160 patients with the following chronic oral mucosal conditions, recurrent aphthous stomatitis, oral lichen planus, the more common vesiculobullous conditions (mucous membrane pemphigoid and pemphigus vulgaris) and orofacial granulomatosis received a copy of the COMDQ. A subset of 100 patients received the questionnaire on two further occasions, 2 weeks and 3 months later. Statistical tests were carried out to evaluate the test-retest reliability and responsiveness of this instrument. This study has demonstrated that the COMDQ has good test-retest reliability with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.81 and is responsive to changes in the patients' overall conditions. In conclusion, this study has further demonstrated the reliability and responsiveness of the COMDQ in assessing QofL in patients with chronic oral mucosal diseases.