• Jung Lee, Min Sun Kim, Cho Hee Kim, Yi Ji Moon, and Yu Hyeon Choi.
• Integrative Care Hub (J.L., Y.J.M.), Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2022 Mar 1; 63 (3): 395-403.

ContextSince pediatric palliative care (PPC) aims to improve the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children with life-limiting conditions (LLC), assessment of their HRQoL and identification of its determinants is crucial.ObjectivesTo examine the clinical and family factors associated with HRQoL of children with LLC METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 136 pediatric patients with LLC who were enrolled in the PPC services at Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea. Patients' HRQoL was measured using the Pediatric Quality of Life 4.0. Clinical and family characteristics were gathered from the medical records and PPC registry database.ResultsMost children with LLC have a poor HRQoL at their enrollment for PPC services with significant variation in their total HRQoL scores according to the diagnostic categories. Patients with nonmalignant conditions showed significantly lower HRQoL scores than patients with malignancy. Lower HRQoL scores were associated with more caregiver depressive symptoms. In a multivariable regression model, total HRQoL scores of patients were significantly associated with diagnostic categories and caregiver's depressive symptoms after controlling for other clinical and family variables. Physical health summary scores were significantly associated with diagnostic categories and caregiver depressive symptoms. Psychosocial health summary scores were significantly associated with diagnostic categories, patient location, and caregiver's depressive symptoms.ConclusionThe HRQoL of children with LLC receiving PPC differed among underlying disease categories. Lower HRQoL was associated with more caregiver depressive symptoms. These findings suggest the needs for optimized intervention in palliative care for children with nonmalignant conditions and family-centered intervention to address caregivers' psychosocial problems.Copyright © 2021 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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