Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents undergoing surgery for Hirschsprung's disease and anorectal malformations.

PURPOSE: The objective was to describe health related quality of life (HRQoL) after surgery for Hirschsprung's disease (HD) and anorectal malformations (ARMs) in children according to their own perception and that of their parents, by different age groups, the presence of functional disorders, and diet indication.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. Participants were patients aged 2-18 years old and their parents. The study was conducted from June 2008 to May 2009. The instrument used was the PedsQL TM 4.0. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 11.5.

RESULTS

A total of 93 families gave their consent to participate. Higher scores indicated a better HRQoL. Parents showed a trend towards obtaining higher scores in the three scales analyzed. There were no differences observed in the various age groups. The lowest scores were obtained in incontinent, pseudo-incontinent and constipated patients with statistically significant differences according to the parents' reports when compared to the patients who had no functional disorders. When analyzing dietary therapy, patients who were on a controlled protein and low sodium diet together with a suitable intestinal function obtained lower scores.

CONCLUSION

The presence of postoperative functional disorders had a negative impact on the scores. Incontinent, pseudo-incontinent and constipated patients had the lowest scores, as well as those who had a stricter diet.