title: Siblings of children with cystic fibrosis: quality of life and the impact of illness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To asses self-reported quality of life (QoL) and perception of impact of illness on siblings of children with cystic fibrosis (CF).
  
  
  METHODS
  The Child Health Questionnaire was used to assess QoL. The Sibling Perception Questionnaire was used to assess impact of illness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Siblings of children with CF (n= 39) rated their QoL higher than siblings of healthy children on most QoL domains (e.g. Physical Functioning, Behavior, Mental Health). Siblings older than the child with CF reported a higher impact of CF than younger siblings. Perceived impact of illness was higher when the child with CF had been hospitalized or was intermittent or chronically infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Siblings of children with CF reported a good QoL. QoL and impact of illness were related to indices of CF severity. Insight into sibling-issues helps CF teams to provide family-oriented care.
authors.affiliation: Cystic Fibrosis Centre, UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. trudy.havermans@uzleuven.be
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Havermans
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wuytack
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deboel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tijtgat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malfroot
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Boeck
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Proesmans
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001722:Birth Order; D002648:Child; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D035781:Siblings / Q000523:psychology*