title: Impact of socioeconomic status on health-related quality of life in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was to evaluate the impact of the family socioeconomic status (SES) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).
  
  
  METHODS
  The cross-sectional study included 65 consecutive children T1DM between ages 5 and 18 years and their mothers. The control group was formed by random selection by matching each patient with one or two healthy control subjects. To evaluate generic HRQOL in children with T1DM we used the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales which include both a parent proxy-report and a child self-report with age-appropriate versions. To categorize the families' SES, the parents' education level and current employment were recorded and analyzed using the Hollingshed two-factor index of social position. None of the diabetic children in the sample came from families of upper social classes, so we categorized our diabetic children into the lower and middle social classes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Physical health (P=0.02), social functioning (P=0.04), and school activities (P=0.0003) were lower in T1DM children with middle SES families than in controls from middle SES families. Parental reports revealed statistically significantly poorer HRQOL in children from low SES families in total scale score (P=0.005) and in terms of physical (P=0.0126), and psychosocial health (P=0.0246) as compared with the control group with lower SES. Also the parental proxy reports for middle scores of family SES were statistical significantly lower in the total score (P=0.0001), psychosocial health (P=0.0001), emotional functioning (P=0.0006), and school functioning (P=0.0001) compared with the middle group of the control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current findings suggest that low and middle SES of families in children with T1DM is associated with lower generic HRQOL as compared to control children with similar SES of families.
authors.affiliation: Department for Research and Education, Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. husref.tahirovic@untz.ba
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tahirović
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toromanović
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tahirović
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Begić
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D012923:Social Class