title: Short-form versions of the Parental-Caregivers Perceptions Questionnaire and the Family Impact Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop short-form versions of the Parental-Caregivers Perceptions Questionnaire (P-CPQ) and Family Impact Scale (FIS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pretest/post-test clinical studies involved parent-completed questionnaires (the P-CPQ and the FIS) before and some weeks after dental care (under general anaesthesia) for early childhood caries (ECCs) in consecutive clinical samples from Wellington and Auckland. Deriving the short-form versions used only the baseline data from the Wellington sample (N = 195), whereas their evaluation used both baseline and follow-up data from the Auckland sample (N = 144 followed up). Item impact analysis was used to identify the 8 and 16 items with the greatest impact. An eight-item short-form FIS version was obtained in the same way.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the Wellington sample, Cronbach's α for the full, 16- and 8-item P-CPQ scales was 0.92, 0.89 and 0.82, respectively, and it was 0.88 and 0.85 for the full and eight-item FIS. Cross-sectional concurrent validity in the Wellington sample was acceptable for all short forms. Examining their responsiveness in the Auckland sample, large decreases post-treatment were observed in the short-form P-CPQ scores which were similar in relative magnitude to those seen with the full version. The full and short-form FIS scale scores showed moderate decreases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The reliability, validity and responsiveness of the short-form versions were acceptable in these settings with children suffering from severe ECC; however, before they can be treated as definitive measures for use in health services research to determine the effects of clinical interventions for ECC, their test-retest reliability should be examined and further validation undertaken.
authors: School of Dentistry, Sir John Walsh Research Institute, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors: William Murray
authors: WM
authors: Thomson
authors: Lyndie A
authors: LA
authors: Foster Page
authors: Wanda N
authors: WN
authors: Gaynor
authors: Penelope E
authors: PE
authors: Malden
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: anaesthesia; dental; dental care for children; dental caries; general; psychometrics; quality of life