Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with celiac disease: survey of a population from central Ital
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RESEARCH
Open Access
Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents with celiac disease: survey of a population from central Italy Emma Altobelli1*, Riccardo Paduano1, Teresa Gentile2, Claudia Caloisi2, Ciro Marziliano1, Stefano Necozione1 and Ferdinando di Orio1
Abstract Background: Celiac Disease (CD) is an increasingly common autoimmune disorder. It requires a strict lifelong adherence to a gluten-free diet (GFD) which can influence health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study assesses HRQOL in children and adolescents with CD and explores how several demographic and clinical characteristics and GFD adherence affect their perceived health status. Methods: We recruited 140 consecutive children and adolescents with CD confirmed by small bowel biopsy. HRQOL was assessed using the SF-12 questionnaire plus some CD-specific questions exploring wellbeing and lifestyle. Patients, aged 10 to 18 years, were identified by pediatric gastroenterologists and guided in filling out the questionnaire by trained psychologists. Parametric or non-parametric tests were applied to analyze continuous variables and frequencies as appropriate. Results: The SF-12 mean mental component summary score (MCS12) was lower than in the general Italian population (p < 0.001), whereas differences in terms of physical health were not significant (p = 0.220). More than one third of those interviewed reported feeling angry “always” or “most of the time” about having to follow the GFD, and nearly 20% reported feeling different from others and misunderstood because of CD “always” or “most of the time”. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need for health professionals to identify adolescents with major disease-related problems. The food industry should improve its range of gluten-free food products and public bodies and institutions should promote informative campaigns and help promote the overall quality of life of children and adolescents with CD.
Background Coeliac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated systemic disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten and related prolamines in genetically susceptible individuals [1]. It has been demonstrated that CD is one of the most frequent chronic childhood disorders, with a prevalence of approximately 1% in Western countries [2,3]. The only treatment for CD is avoidance of glutencontaining food. Lifelong compliance with a gluten-free diet (GFD) is crucial for prevention of long-term complications, disappearance of medical symptoms, and full histological and serological remission [2,4]. However, * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Life, Health and Environmental Sciences, University of L’Aquila, Piazzale Salvatore Tommasi 1, Coppito (Aq), L’Aquila 67100, Italy Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
strict GFD adherence has the potential to affect patients’ lifestyle hence quality of life (QoL). Studies of the impact of CD and GFD on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) have yielded conflicting results: whereas according to som
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