Assessment of quality of life in children with nephrotic syndrome at a teaching hospital in South India

Abstract EN

This study was conducted to assess the quality of life (QOL) in children between 2 and 18 years of age with primary idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) using Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales).

This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in South India between December 2014 and February 2015.

In this questionnaire-based study, 50 children with primary idiopathic NS and an equal number of age-matched controls with other chronic ailments were recruited.

Their clinical and demographic details were recorded, and QOL was assessed using PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales.

The median (interquartile range) total QOL score in children with NS [65 (59–68.75)] was found to be higher compared to controls [62.19 (58.05–65.78)] (P = 0.012).

Children with NS had significantly higher QOL scores in physical (P = 0.004), emotional (0.029), and social functioning (0.010) domains as compared to controls; however, the school performance was not different from controls.

The QOL scores did not significantly differ between the various clinical phenotypes of NS.

Demographic details such as age, gender, duration of illness, and steroid resistance did not significantly influence the total QOL scores among the nephrotic children.

The present study shows that the overall QOL in children with NS was better than in children with other chronic illnesses.

Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and explore the underlying cause of poor school performance.