title: Anxiety Measures Predict Health-Related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents with Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the relationship between anxiety and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and adolescents with cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty children aged 8-18 years diagnosed with CVS and 40 parents completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) and the child and parent forms of the Pediatric Quality of Life Generic Core Scale, a measure of HRQoL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eleven of the 40 children (27%) by self-report and 6 of 40 (15%) by parent-proxy report met the clinical cutoff for an anxiety disorder on the SCARED. Parent and child SCARED ratings were moderately correlated (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.68; P < .001). Child-rated HRQoL (mean ± SD, 74.3 ± 15.2) and parent-rated HRQoL (mean, 72.1 ± 14.6) were lower than healthy norms (P < .001). Disease severity (mean duration of CVS episodes, 3 ± 2.4 days), annual frequency of CVS episodes (mean, 8.2 ± 15.3), chronicity of CVS (mean, 5.8 ± 3.4 years), and delay in diagnosis (mean, 2.4 ± 1.9 years) were not associated with child-reported HRQoL; however, child SCARED scores accounted for approximately 50% of the variance in child-reported HRQoL (adjusted R(2) = 0.49; df = 1, 38; P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children and adolescents with CVS appear to be at increased risk for anxiety. Anxiety symptoms are a stronger predictor of HRQoL than disease characteristics in children and adolescents with CVS. Assessment and treatment of anxiety in children and adolescents with CVS may have a positive impact on HRQoL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, CO; Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO. Electronic address: sally.tarbell@childrenscolorado.org.
authors.forename: Sally E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Tarbell
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.
authors.forename: B U K
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014839:Vomiting / Q000523:psychology*