Validation of stress screening questionnaire in temporomandibular disorders patient

In Indonesia, to determine the presence of emotional stress as a risk factor for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is still difficult. Although the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) axis II could be used to detect any symptoms of depression butit is not suitable for Indonesian society. The aim of this study was to validate stress screening questionnaire for TMD patients which has been created specifically for Indonesian people by a qualitative study. The design of this study was cross-sectional. It was carried out at the Faculty of Dentistry of the Universitas Indonesia. One hundred sixty patients, aged over 15 yearswere asked to fill the stress screening questionnaire after they agreed to sign the informed consent. All subjects gave informed consent to procedures approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Dentistry. Psychometric properties (reliability and validity) were evaluated on the stress screening questionnaire. After validation test, 6 items were excluded from the stress questionnaire since the items were not fit in the component of it, so the remaining questionnaire consisted of18 items. Within the questionnaire, the correlation between each item and the total items were strong, ranging from 0.510 to 0.788. The results of the reliability test of measuring instruments on the questionnaire showed the value of Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.915. The 18-item stress questionnaire is a valid and trustworthy tool to detect emotional stress as a risk factor in TMD.