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Quality of Life

Quality of life and health in children following allogeneic SCT

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 36, pages 171–176 (2005)Cite this article

Summary:

A total of 52 children, age 9 or over and at least 3 years (median=8) beyond SCT for leukaemia (n=32) or nonmalignant diseases, participated in a single-centre study of health and quality of life (QoL). QoL and self-esteem were assessed with SCHQ-CF87, a generic multidimensional self-report instrument, and with ‘I think I am’. As a group, the children had good QoL, but were below norm in the bodily pain (P<0.05), general health and self-esteem dimensions (P<0.01). Lansky or Karnofsky function levels were at a median of 90. Sense of coherence (SOC-13) was normal and correlated with SCHQ-CF87. Most children were subjectively and objectively in good health according to a self-assessment symptom inventory or by a medical record-based scoring of late effects, although pain was commonly reported. A total of 25% of the patients were rated as having moderate to severe late effects, without considering cataracts or infertility. Neither age at SCT, gender, malignant vs nonmalignant disease, nor stature influenced QoL significantly. Children with moderate to severe chronic graft-versus-host disease or cognitive deficits had lower QoL in some dimensions. No correlation was, however, found between the physician-rated total late effects score and overall QoL. Contrarily, QoL was clearly related to the degree of self-rated symptoms.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Professor Stig Elofsson, Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, for his valuable advice regarding the statistics. The study was supported by the Swedish Children's Cancer Foundation and The Mayflower Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden

    U Forinder, C Löf & J Winiarski

  2. Department of Social Work, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    U Forinder

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  1. U Forinder
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Correspondence to U Forinder.

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Forinder, U., Löf, C. & Winiarski, J. Quality of life and health in children following allogeneic SCT. Bone Marrow Transplant 36, 171–176 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705021

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