title: Determinants of quality of life in children with chronic somatic disease: pilot data from the GapS Questionnaire.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Quality of life (QoL) is a ubiquitous yet poorly defined concept; the precise determinants of QoL are rarely identified. We used pilot data from the GapS Questionnaire to investigate the most important determinants of QoL in children with chronic somatic illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 92 participants including 60 parents and 32 of their children. The sample comprised rheumatology, diabetes, epilepsy, gastroenterology, cystic fibrosis, and day unit patients. Trained interviewers administered the GapS Questionnaire to parents, and to children if ≥ 10 years. We determined the relative importance of different items for QoL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Child participants had a mean age of 14.7 years. Children identified "having good friendships", "being happy most days", and "getting along with parents" as most important. Parents ranked most highly "being allowed to do all the things you like doing", "getting told you have done a good job at something", and "being physically able to do everything you enjoy doing".
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physical health items were not as important as social and psychological determinants of QoL in our pilot sample.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Bryn D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Maru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barrera
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beyene
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carcao
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daneman
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.forename: Grace W K
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Ilana J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Halperin
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lord
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Melville
authors.forename: Unni G
authors.initials: UG
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ota
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zachos
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires