Assessment of quality of life in children with cerebral palsy: A parent-reported questionnaire-based study

The quality of life (QoL) of children with cerebral palsy (CP) needs to be assessed using a CP-specific questionnaire, such as the CP-QoL questionnaire. This study was conducted to assess the QoL of children with CP using the CP-QoL questionnaire and correlate QoL scores with patient demographics. The caregivers of 155 children (3-15 years) attending the NITTE centre of AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences were enrolled in the study. The caregivers were given the Kannada translation of the parent-proxy version of the CP-QoL questionnaire. Analysis and scoring were carried out using the prescribed methodology. For validation, Cronbach's alpha was computed for every question. Analysis was done on the impact of demographic profile on QoL. A CP-QoL survey was given 155 caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (96 male and 61 female). The youngsters under study had an overall QoL score of 25.24 ± 6.14. The children's QoL was significantly impacted by age (P < 0.05). The QoL was not substantially impacted by gender (P > 0.05). Overall, reliability and internal consistency were determined to be good. (Alpha Cronbach's > 0.7). Children with CP have a lower quality of life as assessed using the CP-QoL questionnaire.