Assessment of child-parent dyads' health-related quality of life in learning disorder care: a cross-sectional study in eastern China.

BACKGROUND

Learning difficulties, often stemming from neurodevelopmental disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities (LD), and intellectual disabilities (ID), profoundly impact children's academic performance and family well-being, particularly in highly competitive societies like China. Therefore, we aimed to compare multidimensional health-related quality of life (HRQoL; physical, emotional, social, school functioning) of children across four learning difficulty diagnostic subgroups (ADHD-only, LD-only, ID-only, ADHD + LD); as well as the HRQoL of their caregivers.

METHODS

Four hundred and ninety-two child-parent dyads were included in this questionnaire-based study. HRQoL of children was measured by proxy-reported Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Generic Core Module (GCM), and parents' HRQoL was measured by PedsQL Family Impact Module (FIM). Independent t-tests compared the mean PedsQL GCM and FIM scores (total and scales) between each clinical group and healthy controls. The clinical relevance of group differences was evaluated using Cohen's d effect size. Furthermore, we applied general linear models (GLMs) to examine differences in scale and total scores between each clinical group (ADHD, LD, ID, and ADHD + LD) and healthy controls, adjusting for covariates.

RESULTS

The median age of children was 8.8 years, and the majority were boys (71.5%). Children in the clinical groups-ADHD, LD, ID, and ADHD + LD-exhibit significantly lower HRQoL scale scores and total scores in both children and their caregivers compared to healthy controls. The pattern of HRQoL impairments differs across these clinical groups.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the profiles of HRQoL in children with ADHD, LD, ID, ADHD + LD, as well as HRQoL patterns of their parents in a clinical sample in China. Our findings advocate for attention on children with learning difficulties in both public health agendas and clinical practice to address both child development and caregiver well-being.