Comparison of Effects of Chronic illnesses and Obesity on HealthRelated Quality of Life

Authors

  • Author- Iqra Rao, Iman Fatima, Javeria Iqbal, Iraj Siddiq, Qais Ul Malook, Hurriat Saleemi, Humna Yusuf, Hassan Sajid, Hasnaat Ahmad, Hasan Ilyas, Hesham Mukhtar

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to compare the degree of impairment among obese and chronically ill children against healthy children in the setting of Mayo Hospital and two public sector schools in Lahore.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 152 children comprising the age group of 8-12 years recruited via purposive sampling. HRQoL was assessed using PedsQL version 4.0, and a trained interviewer obtained the child's self-report. The ANOVA test was applied to compare subscales and total scores, while significant differences were determined by Bonferroni post hoc test

Results

 Mean self-reported total health scores were 84.2 ± 10.4 and 80.0 ± 9.4 in healthy boys and girls, 73.7 ± 23 and 65.5 ± 21.4 in chronically ill boys and girls, 68.3 ± 17 and 63.1 ± 16.3 in obese boys and girls, respectively. The current study's findings indicated least HRQoL scores among obese children as compared to their counterparts. Regarding the subscales, the lowest scores were reported in chronically ill children specifically in physical and school functioning, while obese children reported the lowest scores in emotional and social functioning.

Conclusion

 Chronic illnesses mainly affect physical and school functioning, while obesity affects emotional and social functioning in children the most. It suggests that awareness be provided regarding childhood obesity to both children and parents and steps be taken to the prevention of childhood obesity and thus improving the standard of living. Moreover, disease processes in early childhood must be diagnosed with early intervention/investigation.

Keywords:

Obesity, Chronic illness, Quality of Life, Health

Published

2022/12/18

Issue

Vol. VOLUME 3-ISSUE 4
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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