Psychometric Evaluation of a Novel Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire in a Postgraduate Orthodontic Department.

objectiveImproving orthodontic care and academic orthodontic education in a university-based postgraduate clinic requires identifying key challenges and enhancing service quality. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate a patient satisfaction questionnaire in a postgraduate orthodontic department.

methodsA group of experts, consisting of four females and six males (with a mean age of 40.30 years and an average of 12.10 years of work experience), evaluated the validity and reliability of a novel orthodontic treatment satisfaction questionnaire. The validity of the initial version, which included 27 items, was assessed by 10 orthodontic faculty members. Following this evaluation, the questionnaire was revised, resulting in a second version that contained 10 items. This revised version was administered to 30 patients (20 females and 10 males) after they completed their treatment (T1). To assess reliability, the same 30 participants completed a follow-up questionnaire two weeks later (T2). Various measures were employed, including the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), corrected item-total correlation (CITC), Kappa coefficient, and Cronbach's alpha.

resultsThe questionnaire was revised on the basis of an expert panel's evaluation of its validity and readability. After 17 items with a content validity ratio (CVR) below 0.62 were removed and one question was revised, 10 items remained. These items yielded a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92 and an ICC of 0.93.

conclusionThis study developed a validated questionnaire to assess patient satisfaction in a university-based postgraduate orthodontic clinic, providing a reliable tool for service evaluation and improvement.