Validation of the Social support and Pain Questionnaire (SPQ) in patients with painful temporomandibular disorders

Background: The present study aimed to validate of Social support and Pain Questionnaire (SPQ) for use in Chinese patients with painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Methods: The Chinese version of SPQ was produced by translation and cross-culturally adaptation of the original English version according to international guidelines. The Chinese version of SPQ was then distributed to a total of 118 patients with painful TMD. Reliability of the SPQ was evaluating using internal consistency and test-retest methods and validity of the SPQ was determined by construct validity and convergent validity. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to assess the construct validity of SPQ. And convergent validity was assessed by correlating the SPQ scores with the score of a global oral health question. Results: The Chinese version of SPQ has a high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha value, 0.926) and good test-retest reliability ((intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), 0.784). Construct validity was evaluated by EFA, extracting one factor, accounting for 74.8% of the variance. All factor loadings of the six items had exceeded 0.80. As regards convergent validity, the SPQ showed good correlation with the global oral health question. Conclusion: These findings support that the Chinese version of SPQ can be used as a reliable and valid tool for Chinese patients with painful TMD.