Correlation between child and parental perceptions of health-related quality of life in epilepsy using the PedsQL.v4.0 measurement model

Health-related quality-of-life measures in childhood epilepsy are typically limited to a particular functional domain, specific age group, parent proxy-report, or child self-report. Generic health-related quality-of-life instruments in paediatric epilepsy comparing child self-reports with simultaneous parent proxy-reports have not been previously investigated. A previously validated generic questionnaire, the Pediatric Quality of Life version 4 (PedsQL.v4.0), was used to prospectively assess parental and child perceptions of health-related quality of life in 100 children with epilepsy. The correlation between child and parental health-related quality-of-life perceptions across all domains was excellent (p < 0.001) and both were significantly lower than those for healthy controls (p < 0.001). Parents' perceptions of their children's health-related quality of life were lower than those for other chronic illnesses (p < 0.001), especially for refractory epilepsy. The presence of neurological or psychiatric comorbidities also had an adverse impact on health-related quality of life. The PedsQL.v4.0 measures health-related quality of life from both the parent's and child's perspective. Ease of use makes this instrument attractive for routine clinical use.