Journal of Child and Adolescent Behavior
Open Access

Research Article

Quality of Life in Children with Spina Bifida: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of 102 Patients and their Parents

Zegers SHJ^1*, Houterman S², Uiterwaal CSPM³, Winkler-Seinstra PLH⁴, Kimpen JLL⁵ and de Jong-de Vos van Steenwijk CCE⁶

¹Pediatrician, Department of Pediatrics, Máxima Medical Center, Veldhoven, Netherlands

²Epidemiologist, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, Netherlands

³Clinical Epidemiologist, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands

⁴Pediatric Researcher, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands

⁵Professor in Pediatrics, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands

⁶Pediatrician, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands

*Corresponding Author:

Zegers SHJ
Máxima Medical Center
Department of Pediatrics
P.O. Box 7777, 5500 MB
Veldhoven, Netherlands
Tel: 0031 40 8888270
Fax: 0031 40 8889609
E-mail: b.zegers@mmc.nl

Received Date: June 01, 2015; Accepted Date: July 21, 2015; Published Date: July 28, 2015

Citation: Zegers SHJ, Houterman S, Uiterwaal CSPM, Winkler-Seinstra PLH, Kimpen JLL, et al. (2015) Quality of Life in Children with Spina Bifida: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of 102 Patients and their Parents. J Child Adolesc Behav 3:225. doi: 10.4172/2375-4494.1000225

Copyright: © 2015 Zegers SHJ, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: In the so-called SPIN UTI study on 176 patients with spina bifida and clean intermittent cathererization (CIC) we have studied the influence of antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) on the number of yearly urinary tract infections (UTIs) and bacterial resistance to commonly used antibiotics. We have proven that stopping AP increased the number of yearly UTIs only slightly and clinically irrelevant patients would have to take AP for two years to prevent one extra non-febrile, non-scarring UTI, We have also shown that bacterial resistance improved over time when AP was stopped. In this article we study the influence of the recommended discontinuation of AP on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) in spina bifida. Methods: Participating children aged 4-16 years and their parents were asked to fill out the validated KINDL-R questionnaire, combined with specific spina bifida questions. Scores in study participants were compared with healthy controls. Also, the impact of AP, gender, level of spinal lesion, hydrocephalus, methods of catheterization and defecation, mobility and level of schooling on HRQL was evaluated. Results: One hundred and two of the 133 eligible children (77%) filled out the KINDL-R. Patients and their parents had significantly lower HRQL scores than healthy controls (p<0.001). Parents had significantly lower scores than their children, especially in the psychological domains. Severity of co-morbidity was not associated with differences in HRQL. There were no differences between children who continued and stopped AP. Conclusions: HRQL scores are lower in spina bifida patients compared to healthy children. Parents have even lower scores, especially in the psychological domains. Stopping antibiotic prophylaxis does not adversely affect HRQL, and should therefore be pursued to improve bacterial resistance patterns in spina bifida patients.

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