The assessment of quality of life is becoming increasingly important in clinical research. Its importance in dentistry has been realised only relatively recently. Health-related quality of life is concerned with the aspects of quality of life that relate specifically to an individual's health. This may be measured using two groups of instruments: (i) generic measures, which provide a summary of health-related quality of life and sometimes generate a single index measure of health or (ii) condition-specific measures, which focus on a particular condition, disease, population or problem and are potentially more responsive to small, but clinically important, changes in health.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a condition-specific quality of life measure for those patients with severe dentofacial deformity who were requesting orthognathic treatment and to assess the reliability of this instrument.
Method: Instrument content was derived through a literature review and interviews with clinicians and patients. The resulting instrument was tested for internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
Results and conclusion: The instrument was found to divide into four clinically meaningful domains. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were good. Patient acceptance of the questionnaire was also encouraging.