Health-related quality of life in perinatally HIV-infected children in the Netherlands.
Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) can alter HIV infection in children into a chronic condition. Studies investigating health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in HIV-infected children are scarce, and lacking from Western Europe. This study aimed to compare the HRQoL of clinically stable perinatally HIV-infected children to healthy, socioeconomically (SES)-matched controls as well as the Dutch norm population, and to explore associations between HIV and cART-related factors with HRQoL. HIV-infected and healthy children aged 8-18 years completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL™). We determined differences between groups on PedsQL™ mean scores, and the proportion of children with an impaired HRQoL per group (≥1 SD lower than the Dutch norm population). Logistic regression models were used to explore associations between disease-related factors and HRQoL impairment. In total, 33 HIV-infected and 37 healthy children were included. There were no differences in the mean PedsQL™ subscales between HIV-infected children and both control groups. The proportion of children with an impaired HRQoL was higher in the HIV-infected group (27%) as compared to the healthy control group (22%) and the Dutch norm (14%) on the school functioning subscale (HIV vs. Dutch norm: P = .045). Mean scores of HRQoL of perinatally HIV-infected children in the Netherlands were not different from a SES-matched control group, or from the Dutch norm population. However, the HIV-infected group did contain more children with HRQoL impairment, suggesting that HIV-infected children in the Netherlands are still more vulnerable to a compromised HRQoL.
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Sophie
S
Cohen
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.|b Psychosocial Department , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center , The Netherlands.
Jacqueline A
JA
ter Stege
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Annouschka M
AM
Weijsenfeld
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Atie
A
van der Plas
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Taco W
TW
Kuijpers
c Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases , Center for Infection and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.|d Department of Global Health , Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, and Amsterdam Institute of Global Health and Development , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.|e Amsterdam Institute of Global Health and Development , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.|f HIV Monitoring Foundation , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Peter
P
Reiss
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Henriette J
HJ
Scherpbier
b Psychosocial Department , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center , The Netherlands.
Lotte
L
Haverman
a Department of Paediatric Hematology, Immunology, and Infectious Diseases , Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Dasja
D
Pajkrt
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D011788:Quality of Life; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
HIV; Western Europe; cART; children; health-related quality of life