Chronic health conditions affect individuals for at least 1 year and for some children a lifetime. To understand the full impact of chronic disease on patients’ health, it is important to evaluate not only biological outcomes, such as organ system function and comorbidities, but also self-reported outcomes that assess a person’s feelings, functional status, and well-being. The goal of this study from HIP Investigator Dr. Elizabeth Cox was to identify pediatric patient-reported outcomes (PROs) that are associated with chronic conditions and to evaluate the effects of chronic disease activity on PROs.
Researchers reviewed data from 14 studies (10 prospective cohort studies and 4 clinical trials) that assessed 10 pediatric chronic conditions. They found that across all 10 chronic conditions, children reported more anxiety, fatigue, pain, and mobility restrictions than the general pediatric population, and disease activity was consistently associated with poorer self-reported health, and these effects were weakest for peer relationships.
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