Ingerski and colleagues compared health-related quality of life (HRQOL) across 8 pediatric chronic conditions, including 5 understudied populations, and examine convergence between youth self-report and parent-proxy report. Secondary data from 589 patients and their caregivers were collected across the following conditions: obesity, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder, inflammatory bowel disease, epilepsy, type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, post-renal transplantation, and cystic fibrosis. Youth and caregivers completed age-appropriate self-report and/or parent-proxy report generic HRQOL measures. Youth diagnosed with eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorder and obesity had lower HRQOL than other pediatric conditions by parent report. Caregivers reported lower HRQOL by proxy report than youth self-reported across most subscales.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: The authors concluded that use of brief, easily administered, and reliable assessments of psychosocial functioning, such as HRQOL, may provide clinicians additional opportunities for intervention or services targeting improved HRQOL relative to the needs of each population.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A PATIENT OR CAREGIVER: The study pointed out the importance of HRQOL in assessing chronically ill children. Measures of this construct should be added to any self-management program for any group with a chronic condition.

LM Ingerski et al. Health-Related Quality of Life Across Pediatric Chronic Conditions.
Journal of Pediatrics, January 29, 2010.