Is time a healer? How quality of life changes over time reported by parents of children and young people with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.

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Abstract

Objective
To investigate changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children and young people with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) over 3 years following diagnosis.
Methods
Children and young people recruited to the Childhood Arthritis Prospective Study (CAPS) were selected if >5 years of age at diagnosis. HRQoL was assessed at diagnosis (baseline), 1 year and 3 years using the proxy-reported Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ). The CHQ measures aspects of HRQoL including physical functioning and mental health. Analyses included descriptive statistics, comparison with a US reference population, and analysis of CHQ scores longitudinally and by gender and age of onset.
Results
Using CHQ data from 182 study participants (median age 9.6 years; IQR 7.2, 12.2), all HRQoL domains significantly improved over the 3-year follow-up, except general health perceptions.
Physical health domains showed greater improvement than psychosocial domains, although psychosocial scores were generally higher than physical scores throughout.
Although similar at diagnosis, at 1 year females had significantly worse HRQoL than males in physical functioning (p=0.03), bodily pain (p=0.03), mental health (p=0.00), social-emotional (p=0.02) and social-physical (p<0.001). Differences largely remained at 3 years. Age at onset was not significantly associated with HRQoL.
Conclusion
Children and young people with JIA have low HRQoL across domains compared to the reference population. This improves within 3 years of diagnosis, with the greatest improvement within the first year. Early, developmentally-appropriate clinical intervention is recommended to reduce both psychosocial and physical impact of JIA. The lower HRQoL scores of females requires further investigation.
Original languageEnglish
JournalRheumatology (Oxford)
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 13 May 2022

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