Activity level, functional health, and quality of life of children with myelomeningocele as perceived by parents.
BACKGROUND
To provide the best health care for individuals with myelomeningocele (MM), clinicians and researchers need to understand their health and functional status as well as quality of life. The literature is mixed regarding the relationship between motor level and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for these individuals.


OBJECTIVE
We compared the HRQOL of children with MM at the L2 and above and L3-5 motor level and to demonstrate how having a shunt, age, and body mass index affect HRQOL instruments for these two motor level groups.


METHODS
We recruited 50 patients with MM (24 male, 26 female) with a mean age of 11.5 years (range, 5-18 years) and motor levels of L2 and above (n = 15) and L3-5 (n = 35). Guardians were interviewed using standardized functional and HRQOL tools (the Pediatric Quality of Life and the Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument); height, weight, presence of a shunt, ambulatory level, and body mass index were also collected.


RESULTS
We found a decreased HRQOL score for children with MM in the L2 and above motor level compared with those in the L3-5 motor level group. HRQOL had no correlation with body mass index and limited correlation with age. The presence of a shunt correlated with a decreased HRQOL.


CONCLUSIONS
Children with MM had deficits in HRQOL and that was associated with neurologic level and presence of a shunt.
Research Department, Shriners Hospitals for Children-Chicago, 2211 N Oak Park Avenue, Chicago, IL 60707, USA. aflanagan@shrinenet.org
Ann
A
Flanagan
Marianne
M
Gorzkowski
Haluk
H
Altiok
Sahar
S
Hassani
Kwang Woo
KW
Ahn
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts; D002641:Chicago; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008297:Male; D008591:Meningomyelocele / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D009043:Motor Activity; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D011788:Quality of Life; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae