Abstract
To evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQL), social competence, and behavioral problems in children with perinatal HIV infection receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a cross-sectional study was performed at the Department of Pediatrics, University of Brescia. We evaluated HRQL, social competence, and behavioral problems in 27 HIV-infected children compared with age and sex-matched control subjects using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), respectively. On the PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scale, HIV-infected subjects displayed significantly reduced physical (p=0.043) and psychosocial health (p=0.021) functioning, particularly at school (p=0.000), compared with healthy subjects, resulting in a significantly reduced total score (p=0.013). Assessment of social competence and the behavioral features of HIV-infected children by means of the CBCL revealed severe limitations of functioning in HIV-infected children who had impaired social ability. Children with HIV-RNA above the threshold level of 50 had higher scores on the CBCL delinquent behavior (p=0.021) and school competence (p=0.025) subsets. Although the introduction of HAART regimens has prolonged the survival of HIV-infected children, other factors, including disease morbidity and familial and environmental conditions, negatively affect their quality of life, thereby contributing to increased risk for behavioral problems.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from Telethon, Fondazione Cariplo NOBEL Grant, European Union grant FP7 HLH-cure (Project No. 201461), PRIN 2007.