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

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.