Validation of an Indian (Kannada) translation of the Family Impact Scale questionnaire and the impact of malocclusion on the families of adolescent school children

Objectives The objectives of this study were to validate an Indian translation of the Family Impact Scale (FIS) questionnaire and assess the impact of malocclusion on the families of adolescent school children between 12 and 15 years old across socio‐economic strata (SES). Materials and methods The sample consisted of 768 school children aged between 12 and 15 years from randomly selected schools in Udupi district. The FIS and informed consent forms were sent through the children to be completed by their parents. Information was collected on socio‐demographic details, past dental visit in the last year, type of school and SES. Clinical examination for malocclusion using the Dental Aesthetic Index was conducted by a single trained and calibrated examiner. Results The prevalence of malocclusion was 59.9%. The intra‐class correlation for the total FIS score of 0.95 and Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.88 demonstrated internal consistency. There was a significant difference in the overall and subscale scores of FIS between parents of children with and without malocclusion (P