Health-related quality of life of mothers of children with leukemia in Japan.
OBJECTIVE
The study compared the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Japanese mothers of children with leukemia to that of mothers of children without leukemia.


METHODS
We used the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) to measure the HRQOL of 97 mothers of children (average age 6.2, range 0-14) with leukemia diagnosed between 1999 and 2000, and compared their scores to those of 240 mothers of children without leukemia matched to the children with leukemia.


RESULTS
Of the eight unadjusted domain scores of the SF-36, five were significantly low among mothers of children with leukemia compared to mothers of children without leukemia: 'role-physical functioning' (RP), 'general health perception' (GH), 'vitality' (VT), 'social functioning' (SF) and 'mental health' (MH). Their SF-36 domain scores, when adjusted for demographic and clinical factors were also significantly low in RP, GH, VT, SF, RE and MH. The MH and SF scores in mothers of children with leukemia requiring hospital care were, respectively, approximately 20 points (1 standard deviation (SD), p < 0.0001) and 30 points (1.5 SD, p < 0.0001) lower than that of mothers of children without leukemia.


CONCLUSIONS
Mothers of children with leukemia requiring hospital care have poor HRQOL, particularly with regard to mental health and social functioning, and are at a greater risk for depression. These results suggest that the current system for treating leukemic diseases of children in Japan should also include close monitoring of mothers' mental health, and provision of appropriate treatment and psycho-social support.
Yamazaki
Shin
S
Department of Epidemiology and Healthcare Research, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University, Japan.
Sokejima
Shigeru
S
Mizoue
Tetsuya
T
Eboshida
Akira
A
Fukuhara
Shunichi
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan; D007938:Leukemia / Q000451:nursing; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires