Abstract

HURTADO-VALENZUELA, Jaime Gabriel  and  ALVAREZ-HERNANDEZ, Gerardo. Health-related quality of life in obese child and adolescent. Salud Ment [online]. 2014, vol.37, n.2, pp.119-125. ISSN 0185-3325.

Objective To estimate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a group of obese children and adolescents from the city of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Methods A cross sectional study was performed using the PedsQL® questionnaire to compare the HRQoL of 200 children and adolescents with obesity as well as their parents, with two control groups: one from the community (n=400) and another group of users (n=200) from the Hospital Infantil del Estado de Sonora. The differences in HRQoL were assessed using a Kruskal-Wallis test and their relationship with sociodemographic variables and physical status was examined with logistic regression. Results HRQoL was lower in obese patients. Social and emotional QoL were lower in obese subjects. Perception of parents on HRQoL was lower than that of their children. 37.5% of obese subjects perceived their HRQoL as "very bad", which was lower than control groups. The risk of poor HRQoL was 2.2 times higher in the obese group. Conclusions Obesity impairs HRQoL in children and adolescents. PedsQL® is a useful tool for the systematic assessment of HRQoL in children with obesity.

Keywords : Quality of life related to health; obesity; children; adolescents.