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Motor Performance, Health-Related Quality of Life and Self-Esteem in Early Adolescence After Neonatal Therapeutic
Mimmi Eriksson Westblad1,2, Sari Kokkonen Nassef1, Mats Blennow1,3
1Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Division of Paediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Aim:
To explore the correlation between motor performance, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and self-esteem in early adolescents treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) following neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE).
Method:
This cross-sectional study included 45 children (mean age 11 years) with a neonatal TH-treated HIE between 2007 and 2009 in Stockholm. Motor performance was assessed with Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2), HRQOL by Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL 4.0) and self-esteem with 'I Think I Am -2'. Nonparametric statistical methods were applied.
Results:
Significant positive correlations were found between MABC-2 scores and all PedsQL 4.0 dimensions in parents' reports (p < 0.001-0.029). Parents reported lower PedsQL 4.0 Total scores for children below the 15th percentile on MABC-2 (p = 0.004), while the self-reports of the same children were not significant (p = 0.098). Motor performance did not affect children's self-esteem; no difference was found between the group above or the group below the 15th percentile (p = 0.881).
Conclusion:
Differences between parent and child-reported outcomes suggest the need for continued follow-up of children treated with TH into adolescence, including HRQOL and self-esteem. Long-term assessment is necessary to identify challenges not captured in early childhood or by self-reports alone.
