Quality of life of children and adolescents with rheumatic fever.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To assess the quality of life of patients with rheumatic fever receiving outpatient treatment at two hospitals. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ) administered to the parents of 133 patients with rheumatic fever aged between 5 and 18 years. The scores of the several dimensions of the questionnaire were calculated and compared within the categories of clinical and sociodemographic variables using a nonparametric test. RESULTS: Patients' age ranged from 5 to 18 years old, with a mean age of 12 years and standard deviation of 2.8 years. The most common manifestation of the disease was articular symptoms associated with cardiac problems, present in 74 cases (56.1%). Most patients belonged to low-income families. Subjects had higher scores on the following concepts of the questionnaire physical functioning, role/social-physical; role/social-emotional/behavioral; bodily pain; and family activities. The items with the lowest scores were family cohesion; general health; global behavior; and parental impact-emotional. Girls had higher scores on self-esteem; role/social-emotional/behavioral; and general health. Patients belonging to middle-income families had higher scores on mental health; physical functioning; role/social-physical; and family activities. Children from the lowest social class had higher scores on bodily pain and psychosocial aspects. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of life of patients with rheumatic fever is similar to that of patients with other chronic diseases, showing intermediate scores on the several concepts included both in the physical and the psychosocial domains. Social class was the variable most frequently associated with the CHQ concepts.