Flatfoot decreases school functioning among children < 11 years of age

Background Flatfoot is a musculoskeletal abnormality commonly found in children that could result in a reduction of quality of life because of its related symptoms and functional abnormalities. This study aimed to determine the association between flatfoot and the quality of life among children 5-18 years of age. Methods A cross sectional design was used in this study of children aged 5-18 years. The diagnosis of flatfoot was made in accordance with the Chippaux-Smirak Index classification, whereas general and domain-specific quality of life were measured using the Indonesian version of PedsQL™ that has been previously validated. Mann Whitney test was used to compare quality of life between children with flatfoot and normal feet, along with other variables that potentially may influence a child’s quality of life. Results A total of 79 out of 120 subjects was used to analyze the data. There was a statistically significant difference in the quality of life score in the school functioning domain between children with flatfoot (64.46 ±18.22) and those with normal feet (75.90 ±17.29) in children