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Health-related quality of life of mothers of children with leukemia in Japan

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Abstract

Objective: The study compared the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Japanese mothers of children with leukemia to that of mothers of children without leukemia. Method: We used the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) to measure the HRQOL of 97 mothers of children (average age 6.2, range 0–14) with leukemia diagnosed between 1999 and 2000, and compared their scores to those of 240 mothers of children without leukemia matched to the children with leukemia. Main results: Of the eight unadjusted domain scores of the SF-36, five were significantly low among mothers of children with leukemia compared to mothers of children without leukemia: ‘role-physical functioning’ (RP), ‘general health perception’ (GH), ‘vitality’ (VT), ‘social functioning’ (SF) and ‘mental health’ (MH). Their SF-36 domain scores, when adjusted for demographic and clinical factors were also significantly low in RP, GH, VT, SF, RE and MH. The MH and SF scores in mothers of children with leukemia requiring hospital care were, respectively, approximately 20 points (1 standard deviation (SD), p < 0.0001) and 30 points (1.5 SD, p < 0.0001) lower than that of mothers of children without leukemia. Conclusion: Mothers of children with leukemia requiring hospital care have poor HRQOL, particularly with regard to mental health and social functioning, and are at a greater risk for depression. These results suggest that the current system for treating leukemic diseases of children in Japan should also include close monitoring of mothers’ mental health, and provision of appropriate treatment and psycho-social support.

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Abbreviations

BP:

bodily pain

GH:

general health perception

HRQOL:

health-related quality of life

MH:

mental health

PACQLQ:

Pediatric Asthma Caregiver’s Quality of Life Questionnaire

PF:

physical functioning

RE:

role limitations due to emotional problems

RP:

role limitations due to physical health problems

SF:

social functioning

SF-36:

36-Item short form Health Survey

VT:

vitality

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Healthcare Research, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University, Yoshida-konoe-cho Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Shin Yamazaki, Shigeru Sokejima & Shunichi Fukuhara

  2. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, The Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan

    Tetsuya Mizoue

  3. Department of public health, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan

    Akira Eboshida

Authors
  1. Shin Yamazaki
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  2. Shigeru Sokejima
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  3. Tetsuya Mizoue
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  4. Akira Eboshida
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  5. Shunichi Fukuhara
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shunichi Fukuhara.

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Yamazaki, S., Sokejima, S., Mizoue, T. et al. Health-related quality of life of mothers of children with leukemia in Japan. Qual Life Res 14, 1079–1085 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-004-3288-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-004-3288-z

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