Quality of life of 6-year-old survivors from a regional neonatal unit.
OBJECTIVE
Quality of life (QOL) of children who required treatment in a national neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during the first week of life was determined at 6 years of age.


METHODS
QOL was assessed using a standardized questionnaire employing a multi-attribute scoring system including the functions: hearing, vision, speech, mobility, emotion, learning, self-care and pain. After excluding those with congenital neurodevelopmental disorders, questionnaire returns were analyzed from 177 children treated in the NICU in 1990 and a comparative age-matched group of 230 children who did not require neonatal care. Of these, returns were obtained from 143 (81%) cases and 171 (74%) of the non-treated group.


RESULTS
There was no difference in overall ability between the two groups, with 95 (66%) of cases and 126 (74%) of the comparison group reporting normal scores in all functions. Children treated in the NICU had decreased scores in individual functions including speech (p = 0.04), mobility (p = 0.009) and self-care (p = 0.006). For the study population, males had lower function in speech (p = 0.04) and learning (p = 0.001), with significantly worse function overall (p = 0.02) when compared with female cases. When compared with same-gender children who did not require NICU care, overall function was also significantly worse for male but not female cases (p = 0.0002), and this was largely contributed to by impairment in speech (p = 0.03), mobility (p = 0.04), learning abilities (p = 0.02) and self-care (p = 0.03). Eleven (7.7%) cases compared with just two (1.2%) children who were not treated in the NICU required assistance at school (p = 0.009). No difference was observed when QOL was assessed according to gestational age and birth weight.


CONCLUSIONS
Using a simple scoring system this study has shown that, for survivors who required early neonatal intensive care, the QOL at 6 years compared favorably with that of children not treated in the NICU, especially for girls.
Xuereb
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Department of Institutional Health, Health Division, Valletta, Malta.
Attard Montalto
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D001724:Birth Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003422:Critical Care; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors