Quality of life in children with functional constipation: Are child self-reports and parent proxy-reports interchangeable?

We thank Vriesman et  al for providing an extensive overview of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with functional constipation.1 HRQoL is identified as an important outcome when evaluating the effect of a treatment in both clinical trials and the doctor's office.2,3 As mentioned by the authors, the re is substantial debate who is the most appropriate respondent to assess children's HRQoL: the child itself or the parent(s).4 To examine the parent–child agreement, the authors compared the total HRQoL scores on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory questionnaire reported by children and paren ts and suggested that the scores were quite similar, with a score of 62.03 (SD 11.46) and 64.95 (SD 12.99), respectively, so there seems to be good parent–child agreement on a group level.

Source: The Journal of Pediatrics - November 19, 2019 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jojanneke J.G.T. Van Summeren, Gea A. Holtman, Janny H. Dekker, Marjolein Y. Berger Tags: Letters to the Editor Source Type: research