Health-Related Quality of Life, Activities of Daily Living and Parenting Stress in Children with Brain Tumors

OBJECTIVE To compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL), activities of daily living (ADL), and parenting stress between children with brain tumors and those of normal control (NC). METHODS Participants were 31 brain tumor patients who had received chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation after surgical resection and 125 NC subjects. We administered the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, version 4.0 (PedsQL), to assess HRQOL; the Korean version of the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (K-PSI-SF), to assess parenting stress; and examined ADL. RESULTS The mean self-report PedsQL scores for physical health, emotional functioning, social functioning, school functioning, and total scores in the patients were significantly lower than those of the NC group. The mean parent proxy-report PedsQL scores for all scales except emotional functioning in the patient group were significantly lower than those of the NC group. The ADL impairment for the patients was significantly more than that of the NC group. The K-PSI-SF mean scores for stress related to having a difficult child and for stress related to parent-child interaction in the patient group tended to be higher than those of the NC group (p=0.09). CONCLUSION The children with brain tumors had lower HRQOL and difficulties in performing ADL. The parents of children with brain tumors tended to experience stress related to having a difficult child and to parent-child interaction. We suggest that long-term monitors for the child's HRQOL and ADL, and parenting stress in children with brain tumors are needed.