Abstract
Purpose proper chewing and swallowing functions have great importance in general health, since it potentially affects food's digestion and the subject's nutritional status. The aim was to assess the validity and reliability of the self-applied Quality of Masticatory Function Questionnaire (QMFQ) in a convenience (non-referred) sample of Brazilian adolescents divided into three groups: control (n=57), dental caries (n=51) and malocclusion (n=54). Methods caries and malocclusion were evaluated using DMF-S index (number of decayed, missing and filled primary and permanent surfaces) and Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need, respectively. The QMFQ comprises 26 items regarding frequency and intensity of chewing problems with five domains: Food-Mastication, Habits, Meat, Fruits and Vegetables. Data were submitted to descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Chi-square tests. Psychometric evaluation included measures of reliability (internal consistency - Cronbach's alpha and matrix of correlation) and discriminant validity (Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn post-test). Results the instrument showed satisfactory internal consistency, with significant positive correlations between the domains scores except between Habits and Vegetables. Total scale Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.87 and the coefficient did not increase significantly with the removal of each domain. Significant differences were found between controls and caries group in Food-Mastication, Meat and Fruits scores. Caries group also showed higher median values in Food-Mastication and Fruits than the malocclusion group. Conclusion the Quality of Masticatory Function Questionnaire showed acceptable properties regarding internal consistency, reliability, and discriminant validity in evaluating the impact of caries on the perception of the masticatory function quality of Brazilian adolescents.
Highlights
The health status of the teeth, tongue, cheeks, lips, muscles and saliva are essential to properly perform important oral functions such as talking, laughing, smiling, yawning, swallowing and chewing[1]
The present study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Quality of Masticatory Function Questionnaire applied in Brazilian adolescents with different oral health status
The Portuguese version of the Quality of Masticatory Function Questionnaire (QMFQ) was developed previously, after translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Questionnaire D’Alimentation[14]; this instrument was originally developed for French speaking adults who wore partial/complete dentures living in Montreal (Quebec) and the English version has already been presented[15]
Summary
The health status of the teeth, tongue, cheeks, lips, muscles and saliva are essential to properly perform important oral functions such as talking, laughing, smiling, yawning, swallowing and chewing[1]. Proper chewing and swallowing functions have great importance since they affect food’s digestion and have potential influence on the subject’s nutritional status[2] and on individual’s quality of life[3]. In this context, when evaluating masticatory efficiency, maximum values are obtained by individuals with complete healthy dentition, while lower values are obtained by patients with teeth losses[4,5]. Food fragmentation depends on the number of teeth present, number of occlusal units, and tooth surface area This explains the fact that subjects with teeth compromised by periodontal diseases and/or dental caries swallow large particles or spend more time chewing[6,7]. Subjects with malocclusions may have fewer occlusal contacts or smaller contact areas, showing poor masticatory performance[8]
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