Standardization of European Medical Risk Related History questionnaire for use with Persian-speaking population

BACKGROUND: Today, the dental practitioners are finding many more medically compromised patients in their practice. AIMS: The aim of this study was standardization of the European Medical Risk Related History (EMRRH) questionnaire for use among Persian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The English original version of the EMRRH questionnaire was translated into Persian language by a forward-backward translation method. Then reliability was tested on 50 subjects. Also, the sensitivity, specificity, and validity of the questionnaire were assessed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Cohen's kappa, a measure of agreement between observers that includes an adjustment for chance agreement, was likewise calculated. RESULTS: The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the EMRRH was above the recommended 0.7 threshold and considered excellent (alpha 0.87). Specificity of the questions was 94% and of per EMRRH item was 93%. Sensitivity per question was 86.1% and of per EMRRH item was 94%. Cohen's kappa for the questionnaire was 0.89 and for subsequent questions was 0.82. CONCLUSIONS: The EMRRH (Persian version) has been shown to be valid in comparison with the gold standard (a medical history taken by a physician experienced) and this instrument would be an effectual method of history taking for the dentist