RESUMO
Introduction: Early childhood caries can affect quality of life (QoL) in children and their parents. The Oral Health related Early Childhood Quality of Life scale (OH-ECQoL) is used for measuring oral health-related QoL in North Indian preschool children. Same tool cannot be utilized only by linguistic translation in culturally different Manipuri population. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to translate OH-ECQoL tool into Manipuri language and to reestablish its psychometric properties. Methods: The OH-ECQoL tool was translated into Manipuri language by forward–backward translation. The questionnaire was tested on 300 parents/primary caretakers of healthy children with the age range of 24–71 months. It was also retested on 20 parents after a gap of two weeks. Demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status were recorded in a predesigned proforma. Oral health status of children was recorded as per WHO oral health assessment form (2004). Statistical Analysis: The data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel 2010 and analyzed using SPSS version 11 software. Results: The tool possessed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.836) and test–retest reliability (ICC = 0.94). Parents of children who scored higher on Manipuri-OH-ECQoL questionnaire perceived their children's general and oral health as poor when compared to children with lower scores, proving acceptable concurrent validity scores. Spearman's correlation coefficient between child and family impact scores of 0.668 is supporting convergent validity, which means that dental problems affect QoL of both children and their parents. Conclusion: The translated Manipuri-OH-ECQoL tool was found to be adequately valid, reliable, and repeatable without affecting the psychometric properties of the original tool. This suggests that it can be used in studies assessing the impact of oral diseases on QoL of preschool children and their families in Manipur.