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. 2006 Jan 24:4:5.
doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-4-5.

Gender differences in health-related quality of life of adolescents with cystic fibrosis

Renata Arrington-Sanders  1 , Michael S Yi, Joel Tsevat, Robert W Wilmott, Joseph M Mrus, Maria T Britto
Affiliations

Gender differences in health-related quality of life of adolescents with cystic fibrosis

Renata Arrington-Sanders et al. Health Qual Life Outcomes. .

Abstract

Background: Female patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) have consistently poorer survival rates than males across all ages. To determine if gender differences exist in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of adolescent patients with CF, we performed a cross-section analysis of CF patients recruited from 2 medical centers in 2 cities during 1997-2001.

Methods: We used the 87-item child self-report form of the Child Health Questionnaire to measure 12 health domains. Data was also collected on age and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1). We analyzed data from 98 subjects and performed univariate analyses and linear regression or ordinal logistic regression for multivariable analyses.

Results: The mean (SD) age was 14.6 (2.5) years; 50 (51.0%) were female; and mean FEV1 was 71.6% (25.6%) of predicted. There were no statistically significant gender differences in age or FEV1. In univariate analyses, females reported significantly poorer HRQOL in 5 of the 12 domains. In multivariable analyses controlling for FEV1 and age, we found that female gender was associated with significantly lower global health (p < 0.05), mental health (p < 0.01), and general health perceptions (p < 0.05) scores.

Conclusion: Further research will need to focus on the causes of these differences in HRQOL and on potential interventions to improve HRQOL of adolescent patients with CF.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Health-Related Quality of Life by Domain and Gender. Health scores ranging from 0–100 are shown on the Y-axis and domains on the X-axis. The asterix (*) indicates p-value < 0.05 for the difference between males and females. Domains: Global Health (GH); Physical Functioning (PF); Bodily Pain (BP); Behavior (BE); Mental Health (MH); Self-esteem (SE); General Health Perception (GP); Family Cohesion (FC); Family Activities (FA); Role/social Physical; Role/social Emotional (RE); Role/social Behavioral (RB).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect Sizes for Gender Differences in HRQOL. The domains of HRQOL are shown on the X-axis and the effect size on the Y-axis where effect size = [meanM-meanF]/SDM. Effect sizes between 0.2 and 0.5 are felt to be minimally clinically important and those between 0.5 and 0.8 are felt to be moderately clinically important. Positive effect sizes indicate better HRQOL for males than females. Role physical (RP) domain is negative because males reported worse HRQOL than females. Domains: Global Health (GH); Physical Functioning (PF); Bodily Pain (BP); Behavior (BE); Mental Health (MH); Self-esteem (SE); General Health Perception (GP); Family Cohesion (FC); Family Activities (FA); Role/social Physical; Role/social Emotional (RE); Role/social Behavioral (RB).
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