title: Factors associated with health-related quality of life changes in survivors to pediatric intensive care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine predictors of change in the health-related quality of life in survivors to pediatric intensive care, based on preadmission health status, demographic characteristics, and physiological variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective evaluation of health-related quality of life at PICU admission and after 6 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three PICUs at tertiary hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged ≥ 6 yrs admitted to the PICUs between May 2002 and June 2004.
  
  
  METHODS
  Health Utilities Index Mark 3 questionnaire was administered to a child proxy by direct interview at admission and by telephone interview at follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the 517 eligible admissions, 44 (8.5%) children died in the PICU and 252 had a follow-up assessment. From a list of 115 analyzed variables, 29 (25%) and 30 (26%) were selected (p < .10) for a multivariable model predicting improvement and deterioration of the health-related quality of life, respectively. In the final models, only mechanical ventilation, preadmission global score of Health Utilities Index Mark 3, and preadmission Health Utilities Index Mark 3 pain attribute were associated with improvement; and main diagnostic group, preadmission Health Utilities Index Mark 3 emotion attribute, and preadmission Health Utilities Index Mark 3 pain attribute were associated with deterioration in the health-related quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most common variables used to compute probability of death algorithms were not capable of predicting health-related quality of life in survivors to pediatric intensive care. The preadmission health-related quality of life and trauma admissions are important variables to predict change in the health-related quality of life of children surviving to pediatric intensive care.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos, UAG-MC Hospital S. João, Porto, Portugal. francisco.a.cunha@sapo.pt
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mota
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teixeira-Pinto
authors.forename: Leonor
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Estrada
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Altamiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costa-Pereira
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Almeida-Santos
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003422:Critical Care; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology