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. 2021 Jan 1;42(1):46-54.
doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000000843.

The Impact of Asymptomatic Congenital Cytomegalovirus on Adult Quality of Life

Maja Z Katusic  1 , Noël E Mensah-Bonsu  1 , Jerry A Miller  2 , Marie R Turcich  1 , Isabella Iovino  3 , Sherry Vinson-Sellers  1 , Robert G Voigt  1 , Gail J Demmler-Harrison  2 ; Houston Congenital CMV Longitudinal Study
Affiliations

The Impact of Asymptomatic Congenital Cytomegalovirus on Adult Quality of Life

Maja Z Katusic et al. J Dev Behav Pediatr. .

Abstract

Objective: Children born with asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection (AcCMV) have increased risk for hearing loss, which may affect their quality of life into adulthood. We aim to determine quality of life outcomes among adults who were identified at birth with AcCMV compared with controls, using the cohort of the Houston Congenital CMV Longitudinal Study.

Methods: Quality of life was determined using the self-reported Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI). Sixty-one of 109 AcCMV subjects and 23 of 51 controls completed QOLI. Percentile scores of subjects were compared with percentile scores of controls using Student t tests. QOLI percentile scores were compared among AcCMV subjects with (N = 14) and without hearing loss (N = 47).

Results: There was no difference in mean percentile scores on QOLI between AcCMV subjects (59.8 [SD = 27.6]) and controls (57.3 [SD = 35.3]; p = 0.754). Percentile scores indicate an average overall quality of life classification for AcCMV subjects and controls. There was no difference in mean percentile scores on the QOLI between AcCMV subjects with and without hearing loss (54.8 [SD = 25.2]) and 61.3 [SD = 28.3]; p = 0.440, respectively).

Conclusion: Adults born with AcCMV do not seem to have lower ratings of quality of life compared with uninfected controls. Although our study had small sample size, hearing loss does not seem to be a significant predictor of QOLI percentile scores among AcCMV subjects. Quality of life in adulthood does not seem to be affected by an individual's awareness of screening positive for CMV, which supports the notion of "no harm" occurring from universal newborn screening for congenital CMV infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: G. J. Demmler Harrison and J. A. Miller have received funding from Merck Sharp & Dohme Corporation since July 2016 to assist with salary support for data analysis on long-term outcomes of congenital CMV infection. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) percentile scores for male and female patients by subject group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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