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Health-related quality of life following pediatric critical illness

François Aspesberro1, Rita Mangione-Smith, Jerry J Zimmerman

  • 1Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington, P.O. Box 5371, Seattle, WA, 98105-0371, USA, faspes@hotmail.com.

Intensive Care Medicine
|April 9, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a meaningful outcome for children surviving critical illness. Validated measures exist, but future studies must track long-term HRQL alongside mortality.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
  • Health Outcomes Research
  • Quality of Life Studies

Background:

  • Children surviving critical illness often experience significant long-term morbidity.
  • Assessing health-related quality of life (HRQL) is crucial for understanding the full impact of critical illness in pediatric populations.
  • Existing literature reviews have not comprehensively evaluated HRQL measures in pediatric critical care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a clinically meaningful outcome for pediatric survivors of critical illness.
  • To evaluate the psychometric properties and clinical utility of HRQL measures used in pediatric critical care research.

Main Methods:

  • Focused literature review of studies published between 1980 and 2015.
  • Searches conducted in EMBASE/PubMed, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo databases.
  • Evaluation of psychometric properties (reliability, validity, sensitivity) of identified HRQL instruments.

Main Results:

  • 78 studies were included from 253 initially identified articles.
  • Only four of the 22 HRQL measures demonstrated excellent psychometric properties for pediatric critical care.
  • Significant ongoing morbidity affecting HRQL was observed in pediatric survivors.
  • Factors influencing poor HRQL include reason for PICU admission, comorbidities, prolonged treatments, psychological distress, and socioeconomic status.

Conclusions:

  • Validated pediatric HRQL instruments are available for clinical use and research.
  • Critical illness significantly impacts the HRQL of children, both in acute and chronic settings.
  • Future pediatric critical care trials should incorporate long-term HRQL measurements alongside mortality data to comprehensively assess outcomes.
Abstract

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