Assessment of the life quality in children with phenylketonuria

Abstract

Background: Phenylketonuria (PKU) - the most common inherited disorder of amino acid metabolism, identified in Russia by neonatal screening. The results of dietary treatment demonstrate a positive effect. However, the quality of PKU patients life remains unknown. Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the quality of PKU children life in comparison with their healthy peers, also depending on the treatment onset and the patient's age. Methods: The study involved 64 pairs - PKU child and one of his parents. It was used the common questionnaire survey Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQLtm4.0, Varni et al., USA, 2001) and the program SPSS v. 14.0 (US) for statistical processing of the results. Results: The statistically significant (p < 0.001) differences between PKU patients and healthy children in the physical, emotional, social and role functioning were found. The most pronounced differences were observed in the social (70 points vs 90 respectively) and role (57.5 vs 80 respectively) functioning. Maximum significant correlation (p < 0.001) was installed between the social functioning of PKU patients and timing of the dietary treatment. Also the statistically significant interaction (p < 0.05) was found between the role functioning, patient's age and treatment onset. The assessment points of social and role functioning were higher (p < 0.05) in the PKU patients subgroup with early treatment initiation. Conclusion: These results confirmed the need of early diagnostics of PKU and initiation of dietary treatment, as well as the organization of timely psychological support for parents of sick children.