Measuring Quality of Life of Finnish Children With Cerebral Palsy

Julkaistu 29.7.2013

Tiivistelmä

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to examine the quality of life (QOL) of Finnish children with cerebral palsy (CP), both from the child's and the caregiver's point of view, and to analyze the effect of background factors on QOL.

Methods

This study is a part of a national CP research project. The study is based on validated questionnaires measuring QOL (CP QOL-Child). 128~questionnaires were sent to caregivers who had a 4 to 12 year-old child with CP. Children between 9 and 12 years were asked to fill in the child-self-report version.

Results

Responses were obtained from 78 guardians and 27 children, with a response rate of 61% in both cases. The overall QOL was reported to be good in Finnish children with CP. The correlation of QOL scores between the caregivers and children was good (n=25, r=0.687, p< 0.001), except in the domain of pain and the impact of disability. Parental estimates were consistently lower in all domains. Regarding the background factors, all the functional classification scales were associated inversely with QOL in both groups.

Conclusion

Despite the good overall QOL, CP is perceived to limit participation. Pain impairs QOL, and pain symptoms should be systematically considered at every follow-up visit.

Lue koko artikkeli (iospress.com)

Tekijät

Sanna Böling, Tarja Varho, Helena Mäenpää, Wivi Forsten, Ilona Autti-Rämö, Leena Haataja

Lisätietoja julkaisusta

Vertaisarvioitu: kyllä.
Avoin saatavuus: ei.
Koko viite: Böling, S., Varho, T., Mäenpää, H., Forsten, W., Autti-Rämö, I., & Haataja, L. (2013). Measuring quality of life of Finnish children with cerebral palsy. Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicine, 6(3), 121–127. https://doi.org/10.3233/PRM-130252