Method: The original questionnaire was translated into Portuguese using a standardized forward-backward linguistic translation method. Its face and content validity was tested in a small pilot study. In the main study, a convenience sample of 80 graduate students of Dentistry, of different specialties, in Curitiba/PR, Brazil, were invited to complete the final Brazilian version of the questionnaire and answer a form with questions true / false on maltreatment of children and adolescents. Association between the final Brazilian version of the questionnaire and the form answers were used to assess the concurrent validity of the questionnaire. Discriminant validity was assessed by comparing the results obtained with the questionnaire for different specialties. Participants complete the questionnaire again after 4 weeks to evaluate the test-retest reliability. Internal consistency reliability was tested using item-domain and domain-total correlations.
Result: The association between the questionnaire and the form answers were significant (p<0.05). Statistically significant difference was observed only on the domains experience and interest, where pediatric dentists showed more experience and interest on child abuse compared to other specialties (Mann-Whitney test, p<0.05). The item-domain correlation coefficient ranged from 0.19 to 0.97. The domain-total correlation coefficient ranged between 0.33 and 0.96. Comparison of questionnaires test and re-test answers showed good agreement (kappa>0.53 and inter-class correlation>0.84) for most questions, except the open questions and question 5 (Did you see any definite case of physical abuse in the last 6 months?).
Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the questionnaire was valid and reliable for assessing the knowledge about child abuse by Portuguese speaking dentists.