Health-related quality of life in Ukrainian young children: self-reports and proxy reports

Abstract

An analysis of children’s quality of life allows answering a number of questions related to better understanding the problems in the child development. The purpose of the study was to analyse the differences in the physical and psychosocial components of the life quality of the child of preschool age by the responses of children and parents. The survey was attended by 57 children (passport age – 5 years) and their parents. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) was used to assess the quality of life. The results were evaluated according to 4 scales – Physical Functioning (PF), Emotional Functioning (EF), Social Functioning (SF), Kindergarten Functioning (KF). Nonparametric analysis was used to compare the responses of parents and children. For most scales, the quality of life indicators exceeded 75 points (PF – 78.7 points, EF – 82.3 points, SF – 76.1 points). The score recorded by parents for the quality of life of the child was lower and differed in the scales PF (by 10.9 points, p < 0.001), EF (by 12.7 points, p < 0.001,) KF (by 9.2 points, p = 0.02). The quality of life of Ukrainian preschool children is in a high range, but is lower in comparison with healthy respondents of the same age group from other countries. Critical for the low-value scales identified problems with peers. Parents give a more critical assessment of various aspects of the functioning of the child and are a source of additional information about the quality of life of the child.