Validation of the Turkish version of the Liverpool Oral Rehabilitation Questionnaire version 3 (LORQv3) in prosthetically rehabilitated patients with head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: The Liverpool Oral Rehabilitation Questionnaire version 3 (LORQv3) is a measure assessing the impact of oral rehabilitation on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL).The aims of the study were to adapt culturally the LORQv3 for Turkish-speaking head and neck cancer patients who had undergone prosthetic rehabilitation and to undertake an initial investigation of its psychometric properties.

METHODS: The Turkish version of the LORQv3 was translated and culturally adapted into Turkish, and tested on a sample of 46 head and neck cancer patients who had undergone prosthetic rehabilitation at a university clinic. Patients were categorized into three groups: Patients with maxillary obturator prostheses treated by surgery alone (n = 15); Patients with maxillary obturator prostheses treated by surgery plus radiotherapy, with or without chemotherapy (n = 23); and, Nasopharyngeal cancer patients without maxillary defects wearing conventional dental prostheses who had been treated by radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy (n = 8). Data were collected through clinical examinations and self-reported questionnaires, including socio-demographic characteristics, the LORQv3, and the University of Washington Quality of Life questionnaire version 4 (UW-QOLv4). The psychometric evaluation included validity (content, face, construct, and criterion) and reliability (internal consistency and test-retest).

RESULTS: All sections of the LORQv3 showed satisfactory internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha between 0.71 to 0.82. Kappa statistics showed moderate to perfect test-retest reliability for the 33 LORQv3 items. We found significant negative correlations between the LORQv3 and the UW-QOL v4 for some related items. The LORQv3 also identified differences in responses among patient groups, supporting its construct and criterion validity.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides initial evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of LORQv3 in prosthetically rehabilitated patients with head and neck cancer; it could be used in clinical practice in Turkey.