Heath-Related Quality of Life in Iranian Children with Nephrotic Syndrome

Background: Nephrotic syndrome (NS), like any other chronic illness, may affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children, so do the complications related to the disease, and its treatment. A better understanding of the (HRQoL) of people with nephrotic syndrome may help to better guide their treatment. Methods: Sixty children with nephrotic syndrome were assigned as the first case group, besides 81 healthy children as the first control group and 98 children with other chronic illnesses as the second control cohort. The participant and his or her caregiver were asked to fill in the standard HRQoL questionnaire. The patient's demographic data were also collected and analyzed using SPSS Results: 60 patients with nephrotic syndrome (mean age 9.8 +/- 3.7) scored lower grades in physical, social, educational fields as well as total scores than the healthy controls (mean age 9.5 +/- 2.7) and higher than the controls with other chronic diseases (mean age 9.7 +/- 3.9) (P < 0.05). The emotional QOL score was close to that of the non-healthy control group. No correlation was found between the clinical phenotype of disease regarding the response to steroids and HRQOL (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The study shows that nephrotic syndrome can affect all aspects of the quality of life of patients. We suggest that comprehensive care of patients with NS be routinely managed in a multidisciplinary clinic with filling HRQOL questionnaires integrated as a common practice.