Background: Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is associated with significant morbidity. Management typically includes treating symptoms and preventing recurrences. However, addressing only the clinical aspect of the disease is insufficient. Understanding the broader impact on social and emotional well-being could improve the quality of life for children with ARF. This study aimed to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children aged 3-18 years diagnosed with ARF to those with overlapping medical conditions and to healthy children.
Methods: This descriptive, multi-site study was conducted over one year. HRQoL was assessed using the PedsQoL questionnaire version 14.0 for children with ARF (n=129), overlapping medical conditions (n=101), and healthy children (n=127). Means and medians were used to summarize QoL scores by diagnosis groups. Nonparametric Wilcoxon rank tests or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to test differences in medians between groups.
Results: Children with ARF had lower QoL scores across all dimensions compared to the other groups. The total mean HRQoL scores were 63.59±18.48 for ARF, 82.6±17.58 for overlapping conditions, and 91.3±11.50 for the healthy group. The school functioning dimension showed the lowest scores among children with ARF. Except for the physical functioning domain, children with overlapping conditions had similar scores to healthy children across other dimensions.
Conclusion: Health-related quality of life of children with ARF is low. Management strategies should address the broader impact of the disease to improve well-being for children diagnosed with ARF.