Title
Pediatric Urologists' Personal Point-of-View of Health Related Quality of Life
Publication Date
2016
Journal Title
Urology
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess pediatric urologists' understanding and use of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) resources in clinical practice. HRQOL is becoming an increasingly vital part of patient care. Although HRQOL has been evaluated and instruments developed for its assessment for several pediatric conditions, it is underrepresented in pediatric urology. METHODS: A SurveyMonkey 7 item questionnaire was sent to the members of the Society for Pediatric Urology. The questions inquired as to knowledge of surveys available, views on appropriate age for beginning discussion of HRQOL, patients' and providers' ability to assess patient HRQOL, and the need for disease-specific surveys. RESULTS: One-hundred and eighteen (37.6%) providers completed the survey. Remarkably 85.6% of the responders believe disease-focused HRQOL instruments would be useful specific urologic diseases; however, only 14.4% state use of any HRQOL instrument. Only 5 unique measures were reported. The majority felt the age at which patients can start reporting his/her HRQOL is 6-8 (41.3%) or 9-11 (31.2%) years. A preponderance of providers believed both themselves and parents could "somewhat" evaluate the patient HRQOL but the majority believe it important to inquire about parents' perceptions of patient HRQOL. CONCLUSIONS: The overwhelming majority of pediatric urologists believe HRQOL is important but only a minority utilize available instruments. Further studies are needed to develop instruments to fill this essential gap.
Volume Number
88
Pages
179-82
Document Type
Article
EPub Date
2015/11/26
Status
Faculty, Northwell Researcher
Facility
School of Medicine; Northwell Health
Primary Department
Urology
Additional Departments
Pediatrics
PMID
DOI
10.1016/j.urology.2015.10.019