Peer-reviewed article
OTHR-35. Health-Related Quality of Life and Social Determinants of Health within Children with Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors
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Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study measured health-related quality of life in 107 children with brain and spinal cord tumors in Indiana, using validated assessment tools. The researchers examined how social determinants of health—such as neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage and community resources—relate to children's quality of life outcomes. Children living in more disadvantaged neighbourhoods and with fewer community resources reported lower quality of life scores. The findings suggest that social factors significantly impact well-being in children with serious illnesses.
Key points
- 107 children (ages 0-21) with central nervous system tumours were assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™)
- Physical quality of life scores averaged 67.4-71.2 and psychosocial scores averaged 67.8-68.9 out of 100
- Children in more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods had lower quality of life across all dimensions
- Community opportunity index averaged 3 out of 5, with lowest scores for health/environment resources (2.6)
- Study establishes baseline data and identifies need for prospective tracking of how social determinants affect outcomes in children with CNS tumours
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional baseline assessment in a single US state (Indiana) with no comparison group or longitudinal follow-up, so it cannot demonstrate whether social determinants directly cause lower quality of life or identify which specific interventions would improve outcomes. The relatively small sample size and lack of data on intervention effectiveness limit generalisability.
Abstract
Abstract Social determinants of health (SDOH) have a significant impact on health, well-being, and quality of life (QOL). Validated tools to assess these disparities have been developed but not utilized prospectively in children with central nervous system tumors (CNS). OBJECTIVE: To establish a baseline assessment of health-related quality of life and associated social determinants of health in children with CNS tumors in Indiana. METHOD: We implemented the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) for patients (ages 0-21 years) diagnosed with a CNS tumor evaluated in the neuro-oncology clinic from July 2019-January 2022. A higher score is associated with better quality of life. Patient's address was utilized to obtain Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and Child Opportunity Index (COI). ADI allows for rankings of neighborhoods by socioeconomic disadvantage at state or national level (1-10: 1 is least disadvantaged). COI measures the quality of resources in a patients’ community, with five categories ranging from very low- to very high-opportunity. RESULTS: We assessed 107 patients and their parents. The ADI decile within Indiana ranged 1 to 10 (median 5, mean 5.3); national percentile ranged 7 to 100 (median 71, mean 67.3). Overall COI mean was 3, with sub-scores for education - 2.9, health/environment - 2.6, and social/economic - 3.1. The PedsQL™ was completed by 96 parents and 91 patients. Physical mean was 67.4 and 71.2, psychosocial mean 67.8, 68.9, and total mean 67.7, 69.8, respectively. Simple linear regressions demonstrated a correlation between increasing disparity and decreasing quality of life across all dimensions. CONCLUSION: This is one of the first studies to associate a decrease in pediatric quality of life with disparities of social determinants of health. These data demonstrate the need for expanded prospective evaluation to track social determinants of health that may impact on the quality of life in children diagnosed with CNS tumors.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Prospective assessment and monitoring of health-related quality of life and social determinants of health (using PedsQL™, Area Deprivation Index, and Child Opportunity Index) in children with central nervous system tumours
- Population
- Children ages 0-21 years diagnosed with brain or spinal cord tumours in Indiana, evaluated in neuro-oncology clinic (n=107 patients)
Key finding
Median Area Deprivation Index (state level) was 5 out of 10, with national percentile median of 71, indicating moderate to high disadvantage
PubMed Central (PMC) · 1 Jun 2022