[Quality of life evaluation in children and adolescents with chronic and/or incapacitating diseases: a Brazilian study].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate quality of life in children and adolescents with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA).


METHODS
We administered the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), the Vineland Adaptative Behavior Scale (VABS) and the Autoquestionnaire qualité de vie enfant imagé (AUQEI) to a sample of 28 children with ALL, 28 children with JRA, and 28 healthy controls, aged 4 to 13 years old, who were diagnosed between 1 and 5 years previously.


RESULTS
Slight differences were found in age between patients with ALL and those with JRA. No significant differences were found in time since diagnosis or in CGAS scores. A significant difference was found in VABS global scores, as well as in VABS communication domain scores. No significant differences were found in VABS daily living skills domain scores between patients with ARJ and healthy controls. No significant differences were found among the groups in VABS socialization domain scores or in AUQEI scores.


CONCLUSIONS
In our study, chronically ill children clearly performed worse in adaptative behavior development. Nevertheless, their quality of life was similar to that of healthy controls. Appropriate methods to identify pediatric patients' perception of their illnesses and treatment should be urgently developed.
Kuczynski
E
E
Servicio de Psiquiatría de la Infancia y de la Adolescencia. Instituto de Psiquiatría del Hospital de las Clínicas de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de São Paulo (SEPIA-IPq-HC-FMUSP). Brazil. ekuczynski@uol.com.br
Silva
C A A
CA
Cristófani
L M
LM
Kiss
M H B
MH
Odone Filho
V
V
Assumpção
F B
FB
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires