Health-related quality of life among families of children with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia

TL;DR

This study examines how severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia in children affects their families' quality of life and functioning.

Contribution

The study reveals that family impact is not linked to child age but is influenced by various health outcomes.

Findings

Parental HRQoL and family functioning were not associated with the child’s age.

An autism diagnosis in the child was most strongly linked to decreased parental HRQoL and family functioning.

Use of a feeding tube also significantly impacted parental HRQoL and family functioning.

Abstract

We aimed to profile the family impact, specifically parental health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and family functioning, of children discharged from a quaternary referral program with the most severe forms of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

We collected cross-sectional data through telephone interviews with 282 families of children aged 18 months to 11 years who had been discharged from a BPD referral program.

Parental HRQoL and family functioning were not associated with the child’s age, despite improvements in the children’s health and respiratory morbidity with age. Many medical issues negatively impacted parental HRQOL and family functioning. The health outcome most strongly associated with decreased parental HRQoL and family functioning was an autism diagnosis, followed by use of feeding tube.

Among families of children discharged from a quaternary BPD program, family impact was not associated with child age and was impacted by a wide range of health outcomes in their children.

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