53 Translation and validation of the LORQv3 in Dutch 3 The test-retest reliability was observed to be good. In Figure 1 a slight tendency to report fewer complaints after 2 weeks than at baseline can be noted. Most participants filled out the first questionnaire during a dental appointment. The second questionnaire was sent by mail. Maybe the dental evaluation itself resulted in a slight decrease in complaints because patients were able to discuss their problems and were reassured. Three groups of patients were compared: patients visiting general practices, patients visiting the university dental clinic, and head and neck oncology patients. Overall group scores followed the expected pattern, with the oncology group reporting the most problems and the general practice group the least. This supports the discriminative validity of the LORQv3-NL. Remarkably, no difference could be found on items 11-14 concerning facial appearance. One might expect the oncology group to have a compromised appearance because of surgery and/ or radiotherapy. Therefore, either this oncology group was not compromised in their facial appearance or they did not perceive it as a burden. As expected, only the oncology group was experiencing difficulty swallowing liquids and opening the mouth. This can be fully explained by the compromised oral environment after oncologic treatment.
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