title: Associations between lower urinary tract dysfunction and health-related quality of life in children with chronic kidney disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). We investigated LUTD and other possible predictors of impaired HRQoL in children with conservatively treated moderate-to-severe CKD or with a kidney transplant.
  
  
  METHODS
  All 64 children with CKD or a kidney transplant treated at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, between June 2011 and December 2012 were approached and 59 children aged 8-18 were enrolled in the study. Lower urinary tract function was evaluated with voiding history, frequency and volume chart, uroflowmetry and postvoid ultrasound measurements. Self-reported HRQoL was assessed with validated generic instruments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HRQoL of the study cohort was as good as the general paediatric population, apart from the physical and psychological well-being dimensions, and was no different to children with other chronic conditions. Urinary incontinence, but not LUTD in general, was associated with impaired HRQoL, as was having a kidney transplant and being female in some dimensions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  LUTD was common in children with CKD or a kidney transplant but did not affect their general HRQoL. Predictors of impaired HRQoL included incontinence, having had a kidney transplant and being female.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, Technology and Intervention, Division of Pediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Öborn
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wettergren
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science, Technology and Intervention, Division of Pediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herthelius
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Social Work, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Health and Working Life, Division of Social Work and Psychology, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Forinder
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D059411:Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bladder dysfunction; Chronic kidney disease; Health-related quality of life; Kidney transplant; Lower urinary tract symptoms