A review of measures of quality of life for children with chronic illness

• Published in: Archives of Disease in Childhood Vol. 84; no. 3; pp. 205 - 211
• Main Authors: Eiser, C, Morse, R
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 01.03.2001; BMJ; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Group
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Chronic Disease - psychology; Chronic Illness; Chronic illnesses; Citation indexes; Cognitive Development; Communicable Diseases; Community Child Health, Public Health, and Epidemiology; Environmental Influences; Female; General aspects; Health Conditions; Health Status; Holistic Approach; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Life Satisfaction; Male; Medical sciences; Medical Services; Mortality; Outcome Measures; Parents; Parents & parenting; Pediatrics; Planification. Prevention (methods). Intervention. Evaluation; Psychometrics; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Quality of Life; Rating Scales; Reproducibility of Results; Search Strategies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Perspective; Treatment Outcome; Validity; Human; Chronic; Disease; Methodology; Measurement technique; Adolescent; Infant; Child; Bibliographic review; Quality of life
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/adc.84.3.205

AIMS To identify currently available generic and disease specific measures of quality of life (QoL) for work with children; and make recommendations about the future development and application of QoL measures. METHODS Systematic searches were conducted to identify measures of QoL. Primary research papers were coded by the authors on the basis of predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS Of the 137 papers included in the review, 43 involved the development of a new measure. These included 19 generic and 24 disease specific measures. Almost half the measures were developed in the USA. Measures were identified which were appropriate for children across a broad age range, and included provision for completion by different respondents (child only, parent only, or both). There were no clear distinctions between measures of QoL, health, or functional status. CONCLUSIONS We have identified a small number of measures which fulfil basic requirements and could be used to assess QoL in clinical trials or following interventions. However, there remain a number of problems in measuring QoL in children. These include limited availability of disease specific measures; discrepancies between child and parent ratings; limited availability of measures for self completion by children; lack of precision regarding the content of domains of QoL; and the cultural appropriateness of measures developed elsewhere for children in the UK. Key messages Different measures have value depending on the purpose for which they are required Basic research is needed to understand the relation between child and parent ratings of QoL Many measures have been developed outside the UK and need to be assessed for cultural appropriateness Children must routinely be involved in development of new measures