Determinants of Quality of Life of Children and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective

To summarize research findings on the determinants of Quality of Life (QoL) in children with cerebral palsy based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF).

Methods

The protocol of the review was registered in the International Prospective Register of The Systematic Reviews PROSPERO (CRD42021261966). A PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE complete, and CINAHL Plus search was conducted between January 2020 and October 2021 to identify studies that examined determinants of QoL. Inclusion criteria for the studies were children between the ages of birth and 20 years with cerebral palsy. The data extraction and quality evaluation of studies were carried out independently by two reviewers.

Results

A total of 664 studies were identified in the search, of which 23 studies were included in the review. The majority of the studies were conducted in high-income countries. According to the ICF, 48% of the studies examined body function determinants, 52% examined activities determinants, and 26% examined environmental determinants. In contrast, 13% of the studies examined determinants related to participation and 13% examined determinants related to personal factors.

Conclusions

Based on our findings, most of the determinants identified in the literature are related sequentially to functional activities, body functions and structures, and environmental factors. Researchers should focus on assessing the determinants of QoL related to participation and personal characteristics for children with cerebral palsy in order to improve their QoL.

Keywords:

• Cerebral palsy
• determinants
• quality of life
• systematic review

Author Contributions

First and second authors participated in designing the study and data extraction, data synthesis. The first author prepared the first draft of the manuscript. All authors edited and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data are available upon request from the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors did not receive any funds to conduct this review. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.