The impact of long-term ventilator-use on health-related quality of life and the mental health of children with neuromuscular diseases and their families: need for a revised perspective?

TY - JOUR

T1 - The impact of long-term ventilator-use on health-related quality of life and the mental health of children with neuromuscular diseases and their families: need for a revised perspective?

AU - Johannsen, Jessika

AU - Fuhrmann, Lena

AU - Grolle, Benjamin

AU - Morgenstern, Lydia

AU - Wiegand-Grefe, Silke

AU - Denecke, Jonas

PY - 2020/7/9

Y1 - 2020/7/9

N2 - BACKGROUND: Life extension by medical interventions and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are sometimes conflicting aspects of medical care. Long-term ventilation in children with neuromuscular disease is a well-established life-extending procedure and often at the center of this conflict. HRQOL and the mental health of affected children and their families become even more important in respect to emerging therapies in neuromuscular diseases with longer life-expectancy of treated patients and considerable costs of medical treatment.METHODS: We performed a questionnaire survey in a total of forty-three families of children with neuromuscular disease treated in the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the Children's Hospital Altona. We evaluated self- and proxy-reported HRQOL and mental health outcomes of affected children and their parents using validated and age-appropriate instruments.RESULTS: Compared to normative data, children with neuromuscular diseases and their families experienced a lower HRQOL and mental health. However, there was no additional negative influence on the overall HRQOL by ventilator use.CONCLUSIONS: As ventilator use was not responsible for the reduction of HRQOL and mental health our data contributes an important aspect to the discussion about life-prolonging procedures, in particular mechanical ventilation, in severly disabled patients.

AB - BACKGROUND: Life extension by medical interventions and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are sometimes conflicting aspects of medical care. Long-term ventilation in children with neuromuscular disease is a well-established life-extending procedure and often at the center of this conflict. HRQOL and the mental health of affected children and their families become even more important in respect to emerging therapies in neuromuscular diseases with longer life-expectancy of treated patients and considerable costs of medical treatment.METHODS: We performed a questionnaire survey in a total of forty-three families of children with neuromuscular disease treated in the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and the Children's Hospital Altona. We evaluated self- and proxy-reported HRQOL and mental health outcomes of affected children and their parents using validated and age-appropriate instruments.RESULTS: Compared to normative data, children with neuromuscular diseases and their families experienced a lower HRQOL and mental health. However, there was no additional negative influence on the overall HRQOL by ventilator use.CONCLUSIONS: As ventilator use was not responsible for the reduction of HRQOL and mental health our data contributes an important aspect to the discussion about life-prolonging procedures, in particular mechanical ventilation, in severly disabled patients.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Child

KW - Child, Preschool

KW - Female

KW - Germany

KW - Humans

KW - Infant

KW - Male

KW - Mental Health/statistics & numerical data

KW - Neuromuscular Diseases/psychology

KW - Parents/psychology

KW - Quality of Life/psychology

KW - Respiration, Artificial/psychology

KW - Surveys and Questionnaires

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1186/s12955-020-01467-0

DO - 10.1186/s12955-020-01467-0

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 32646436

VL - 18

SP - 219

JO - HEALTH QUAL LIFE OUT

JF - HEALTH QUAL LIFE OUT

SN - 1477-7525

IS - 1

ER -