Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life Among 10- to 12-Year-Old Children With Chronic Illnesses and Healthy Children: The Parents’ Perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate mothers’ and fathers’ perception of their child’s health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among 10- to 12-year-old Icelandic children with or without chronic health condition or illness. A total of 912 Icelandic parents (510 mothers and 402 fathers) and 480 children (209 boys and 271 girls) participated in the study. The Icelandic fathers of children who visited the school nurse over a period of 1 week perceived HRQOL of their children to be significantly lower than the mothers. A gender difference was found between the parents; mothers perceived their children to have significantly higher school functioning than fathers. Both mothers and fathers of children with chronic health condition/illness perceived their children to have significantly lower HRQOL than did the parents of children without a chronic health condition. The findings underline the importance for school nurses to develop and test interventions for school-age children with chronic health conditions or illnesses.