Quality of life, activity limitations, and participation restrictions in children 8–12 years old with speech-language-hearing complaints

Objective

To investigate the association between the quality of life, activity limitations, and participation restrictions in children that attended a speech-language-hearing assessment and diagnostic service.

Method

This is an observational, analytical, cross-sectional study with children and adolescents 8–12 years old who had been submitted to the speech-language-hearing assessment process, and with their parents/guardians. The Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria (Brazilian Criteria), the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL), and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) were employed; secondary data were collected as well. The data were analyzed with the distribution of frequency, measures of central tendency and dispersion, and the Shapiro–Wilk, Mann–Whitney, and Kruskal–Wallis tests.

Results

Of the 45 participants, 37 were males and 8 were females, mean age of 10.23 years (SD = 1.47 and median = 10.16). There was a statistical difference between child and parent PedsQL domains and sex, economic classification, and parental schooling. The correlation between their age and the PedsQL domains had a weak correlation with the Social domain. A statistically significant difference was verified between the parent PedsQL domains and the ICF categories referring to Self-care, Particular interpersonal relationships, and Education. The child PedsQL domains had statistically significant differences with categories referring to Receiving, Producing, and General interpersonal interactions.

Conclusion

In this study, the quality of life was associated with sociodemographic aspects and the ICF Activities and Participation component in children with speech-language-hearing complaints.