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Published on: December 31, 2015
Infantile haemangiomas and quality of life
Eran Cohen-Barak1, Dganit Rozenman, Ayelet Shani Adir
1Department of Dermatology, Ha'emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel.
Insights
Children with infantile haemangiomas showed no significant differences in quality of life (QOL) or self-esteem. However, parents perceived their children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dermatology
- Child Psychology
- Quality of Life Research
Background:
- Infantile haemangiomas are common vascular tumors in children.
- Head and neck infantile haemangiomas can be large and potentially impact a child's well-being.
- Objective assessment of quality of life and self-esteem in affected children is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To objectively evaluate the quality of life (QOL) and self-esteem in children diagnosed with infantile haemangiomas.
- To compare these parameters between children with and without haemangiomas.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 21 children (5-8 years) with head/neck haemangiomas (≥2 cm) and 22 controls.
- Utilized the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and Harter's scale, answered by children and parents.
- Data collected at a tertiary medical center in Israel.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant differences were found in QOL or self-perception scores between children with and without haemangiomas.
- Parents of children with haemangiomas reported significantly higher QOL for their children compared to parents of controls.
- A positive correlation was observed between parents' and children's PedsQL scores.
Conclusions:
- Objective measures indicate that infantile haemangiomas do not significantly impact children's QOL or self-esteem.
- Parental perception of QOL differs from objective child/parent reports, suggesting a potential bias.
- Findings may inform treatment decisions, questioning the necessity of aggressive interventions given current therapeutic options like propranolol.
Objective:
To determine the quality of life (QOL) and self-esteem of children with infantile haemangiomas using objective measures.
Design:
Twenty-one children, 5-8 years old, with a diagnosis of head or neck haemangioma measuring 2 cm or more, were compared with 22 children with no history of haemangioma.
Setting:
A tertiary medical centre in the north of Israel.
Interventions:
Demographic and clinical details were collected, followed by two questionnaires-Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and Harter pictorial scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for young children-answered by children and parents of the two groups.
Main Outcome Measures:
QOL and self-esteem of the children in the two groups.
Results:
There were no significant differences in QOL indices or self-perception scores between children with and without haemangioma (86.6±10.3 vs 80.1±15.07, p=0.23 and 3.62±0.2 vs 3.72±0.21, p=0.17, respectively). Interestingly, parents of children with haemangioma reported higher QOL of their children than parents of children without haemangioma (86.4±9.6 vs 77.1±14.9, p<0.03). Likewise, a positive correlation between parents' scored PedsQL and children's scored PedsQL was found (0.56, p=0.008).
Conclusions:
The findings raise a question about aggressive as opposed to more conservative treatment, especially in the era of propranolol.
