Parent-reported health status after pediatric thoracic organ transplant

Thoracic organ transplantation is a life-changing event for a child and family from both a physical and a psychosocial perspective. Accurate pre-transplantation counseling and effective post-transplantation follow-up depend on a good understanding of post-transplantation health status, especially as perceived by families.

The Child Health Questionnaire-Parent Form 50 (CHQ-P50), an instrument that assesses parent-reported health status of pediatric patients, was administered to 47 pediatric thoracic organ transplant recipients (41 heart, 6 lung) 5 to 18 years of age.

Transplant recipients scored lower on the Physical Health Summary (PhS) score than the general population, as evidenced by a lower median score (50.6 vs 55.1, p < 0.0001) and a difference in the distribution of quartiles (p = 0.001), skewed toward the lower quartiles of the general population. The distribution of PhS scores in transplant recipients was comparable to scores of 3 groups of pediatric patients with other chronic health conditions (juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy and asthma). The distribution of the Psychosocial Health Summary (PsS) scores was similar to that of the general population, but the median score was lower (51.5 vs 53.2, p = 0.02). Transplant patients clearly scored lower than the general population on 4 of 12 sub-scales, including those assessing general health, physical functioning, family activities and parental emotional impact. No difference was found in sub-scales reflecting self-esteem, mental health, behavior, pain, peer interactions, family cohesion or parental time demands.

Thoracic organ transplantation in children ages 5 to 18 years is associated with an ongoing deficit in parent-perceived physical health status.