Potential uses for quality-of-life measures in childhood inflammatory bowel disease.
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children with inflammatory bowel disease is clearly reduced in the physical as well as in the psychological and social functioning domains. However, very few studies of these children have been performed from a quality-of-life perspective. Multicenter studies on HRQOL are needed to answer questions about the impact of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis and their treatment and complications on HRQOL in children and adolescents and their association with outcome. This article describes perspectives from which quality of life studies may be performed, potential uses of HRQOL measures, and issues that should be accounted for in designing multicenter clinical studies on this topic.
Koot
H M
HM
Erasmus University and Sophia Children's Hospital, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Bouman
N H
NH
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic