Cross-sectional analysis of health-related quality of life in pediatric liver transplant recipients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the distribution of health-related quality of life in pediatric liver transplant recipients compared with a normative population.


METHODS
This cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted at select centers. Patients between 2 and 18 years of age, surviving liver transplantation by at least 12 months, were eligible. Parent/guardian fluency in English or Spanish was required. Children > or =8 years and parents of all children completed the age-appropriate versions of the PedsQL 4.0 (Mapi Research Institute, Lyon, France). Scores were compared with a sample of healthy children (n = 3911) matched by age group, sex, and race/ethnicity and with a sample of pediatric patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation.


RESULTS
Participants included 65% (873/1339) of eligible patients. Mean age was 8.17 +/- 4.43 years, and 55% were female. The total and subscale scores of PedsQL 4.0 were lower than in healthy children (P < .001), with effect sizes for self-report ranging from -0.25 for Emotional Functioning to -0.68 for School Functioning. Patients and their parents reported better physical functioning than patients with cancer but similar social and school functioning. Correlations between parent and self-reports were in the moderate agreement range.


CONCLUSIONS
Pediatric liver transplant recipients and their parents report lower health-related quality of life than control subjects with some domains equal to children receiving cancer therapy.
Alonso
Estella M
EM
Department of Pediatrics, Children's Memorial Hospital, 2300 Children's Plaza, Box 65, Chicago, IL 60614, USA. e-alonso@northwestern.edu
Limbers
Christine A
CA
Neighbors
Katie
K
Martz
Karen
K
Bucuvalas
John C
JC
Webb
Thomas
T
Varni
James W
JW
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012917:Social Adjustment; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States