English publication
Theunissen,
N.C.M., Kamp, G., Koopman, H.M., Zwinderman, A.H., Vogels, A.G.C., &
Wit, J.M. (2002). Quality of life and self-esteem in children treated
for idiopathic short stature. Journal of Pediatrics, 140(5),507-515.
Abstract
Objective: Changes in Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and self-esteem
were studied in children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) participating
in a study on the effect of Growth Hormone (GH) treatment.
Study design: Thirty-six prepubertal children with ISS were randomly assigned
to a treatment or control group. Children with ISS, their parents and
the pediatrician completed HRQoL and self-esteem questionnaires three
times in two years. Results: At start, children with ISS did not have
lower scores than the norm population, except for social functioning HRQoL.
The pediatrician reported an improvement of HRQoL in the treatment group,
the parents reported no change, and the children in the treatment group
reported the same or sometimes even worse HRQoL or self-esteem than the
control group. Changes related to the childs satisfaction with height,
and hardly to growth itself. Conclusion: The assumption that GH treatment
improves HRQoL in children with ISS could not be supported in this study.
Keywords
health related quality of life; health
status; self-esteem; idiopathic short stature; growth hormone treatment;