Quality-of-life assessment in children with eosinophilic oesophagitis

A disparity in perceptions between parents and children was demonstrated in a prospective cohort study examining the quality-of-life (QoL) of children newly diagnosed with eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE).

The longitudinal cohort study involved 63 new diagnoses of EoE [1]. Patients aged 5 to 18 years completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) questionnaire on the day of their endoscopy. Parents of children aged 0 to 18 years also completed a parent-proxy PesQL, concerning their child. In this questionnaire, higher scores indicate a better health-related QoL. Different PedsQL versions were administered according to age groups: babies (0–4 years), kids (5–7 years), youths (8–12 years), and teenagers (13–18 years).The primary endpoints of the study were the total QoL scores, analysed by age at diagnosis and compared between self-reports and parent-proxy reports.

The study included 71% boys with a median age of 13 years. The median PedsQL scores were similar between self-reports and parent-proxy reports (84.8 vs 84.5). Both parents and children reported higher scores in physical health and social dimensions, and lower scores in emotional and school dimensions. Parents of teenagers assigned significantly higher psychosocial scores to their teenagers compared with parents of younger children (P=0.03). In the social dimension, by parent proxy, teenagers scored a median of 100, significantly higher than babies (P=0.04), kids (P=0.01), and youths (P=0.04) (see Figure). These differences were noted only in the parent evaluations. Self-reported scores remained similar across age groups.

Figure: PedsQL’s social dimension score by age for parent-proxy and child’s self-report [1]



SR, self-report; PP, parent-proxy.

The study thus reveals a different perception of QoL between parents and children, with parents of teenagers generally reporting higher QoL, particularly in the social dimension. These findings underscore the importance of considering both child and parent perspectives in QoL assessments.

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   1. L'Heureux-Hubert E, et al. Quality of life of children newly diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis: a prospective cohort study. Sa1291, DDW 2024, 18–21 May, Washington, DC, USA.

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Posted on 11 July 2024