Health-Related Quality of Life in Pediatric Acute Recurrent or Chronic Pancreatitis: Association with Biopsychosocial Risk Factors

Objectives:Abdominal pain, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations impact lives of children with acute recurrent pancreatitis (ARP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). Data on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in this population, however, remains limited. We aimed to evaluate HRQOL in children with ARP or CP; and test biopsychosocial risk factors associated with low HRQOL.Methods:Data were acquired from the INternational Study Group of Pediatric Pancreatitis: In search for a cuRE registry. Baseline demographic and clinical questionnaires, the Child Health Questionnaire (measures HRQOL) and Child Behavior Checklist (measures emotional and behavioral functioning) were completed at enrollment.Results:The sample included 368 children (54.3% girls, mean age=12.7years, standard deviation [SD]=3.3); 65.2% had ARP and 34.8% with CP. Low physical HRQOL (M=38.5, SD=16.0) was demonstrated while psychosocial HRQOL (M=49.5, SD=10.2) was in the normative range. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that clinical levels of emotional and behavioral problems (B=-10.28, P<0.001), episodic and constant abdominal pain (B=04.66, P=0.03; B=-13.25, P<0.001) were associated with low physical HRQOL, after accounting for ARP/CP status, age, sex, exocrine, and endocrine disease (F [9, 271]=8.34, P<0.001). Borderline and clinical levels of emotional and behavioral problems (B=-10.18, P<0.001; B=-15.98, P<0.001), and constant pain (B=-4.46, P<0.001) were associated with low psychosocial HRQOL (F [9, 271]=17.18, P<0.001).Conclusions:Findings highlight the importance of assessing HRQOL and treating pain and psychosocial problems in this vulnerable group of children.