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Observational Study
. 2023 Jun 20:11:1117854.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1117854. eCollection 2023.

Health-related quality of life and functionality in primary caregiver of surviving pediatric COVID-19

Fernanda Martins  1   2 , Fernanda T Gonçalves  3 , Marta Imamura  2   4 , Daniela S Barboza  2 , Denise Matheus  2 , Maria Fernanda B Pereira  1 , Heloisa H S Marques  1 , Simone Correa-Silva  5 , Marilia M Montenegro  5 , Thais T Fink  1 , Livia Lindoso  1 , Vera Bain  1 , Juliana C O A Ferreira  1 , Camilla Astley  6 , Olivia M Matsuo  1 , Priscila Suguita  1 , Vitor Trindade  1 , Camila S Y Paula  1 , Nadia Litvinov  1 , Patricia Palmeira  5 , Bruno Gualano  6 , Artur F Delgado  1 , Magda Carneiro-Sampaio  1 , Silvana Forsait  1 , Vicente Odone-Filho  1 , Leila Antonangelo  1 , Linamara R Battistella  2   4 , Clovis A Silva  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Health-related quality of life and functionality in primary caregiver of surviving pediatric COVID-19

Fernanda Martins et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: To prospectively assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL), global functionality, and disability in primary caregivers of surviving children and adolescents after COVID-19.

Methods: A longitudinal observational study was carried out on primary caregivers of surviving pediatric post-COVID-19 patients (n = 51) and subjects without COVID-19 (n = 60). EuroQol five-dimension five-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-5L) and 12-question WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) were answered for both groups. The univariate regression analysis was carried out using SPSS (v 20) and significance was established at 5%.

Results: The median duration between COVID-19 diagnosis in children and adolescents and longitudinal follow-up visits was 4.4 months (0.8-10.7). The median age of children and adolescents caregivers with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 was similar to primary caregivers of subjects without laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 [43.2 (31.6-60.9) vs. 41.5 (21.6-54.8) years, p = 0.08], as well as similar female sex (p = 1.00), level of schooling (p = 0.11), social assistance program (p = 0.28), family income/month U$ (p = 0.25) and the number of household's members in the residence (p = 0.68). The frequency of slight to extreme problems (level ≥ 2) of the pain/discomfort domain according to EQ-5D-5L score was significantly higher in the former group [74% vs. 52.5%, p = 0.03, OR = 2.57 (1.14-5.96)]. The frequency of disability according to WHODAS 2.0 total score was similar to those without disability and unknown (p = 0.79); however, with a very high disability in both groups (72.5% and 78.3%). Further analysis of primary caregivers of children and adolescents with post-COVID-19 condition (PCC) [n = 12/51 (23%)] compared to those without PCC [n = 39/51(77%)] revealed no differences between demographic data, EQ-5D-5L and WHODAS 2.0 scores in both groups (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: We longitudinally demonstrated that pain/discomfort were predominantly reported in approximately 75% of primary caregiver of COVID-19 patients, with high disability in approximately three-quarters of both caregiver groups. These data emphasized the prospective and systematic caregiver burden evaluation relevance of pediatric COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescent; caregiver burden; children; chronic disease; pediatric; public health; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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