Cultural equivalence, reliability and utility of the Portuguese version of the Oral Behaviours Checklist

BACKGROUND: Oral behaviors (OBs) must be assessed as part of a biobehavioural evaluation for patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were: to translate and culturally adapt the Oral Behaviors Checklist (OBC) into Portuguese; to evaluate its basic psychometric properties; and to assess the utility of the Portuguese OBC. METHODS: The Portuguese translation, cross-cultural equivalence, and two studies (Pre-field test, N = 8, and field test, N = 45) of the OBC adhered to official guidelines of the International RDC/TMD Research Consortium (now, INfORM). In the formal test (N = 120) the Portuguese RDC/TMD was used for TMD diagnosis. RESULTS: was significantly lower for the healthy group, compared to the painful TMD group (ANOVA, P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: The Portuguese translation of the OBC exhibits cross-cultural equivalence for use in Portugal, and the instrument performs with acceptable psychometric properties. The validity of the parafunction construct requires additional research in both Portuguese and other languages.