Health-Related Quality of Life, Stress, Caregiving Burden and Special Needs of Parents Caring for a Short-Statured Child—Review and Recommendations for Future Research

Abstract

Children with short stature can experience a range of burdens due to their chronic condition. However, little is known about parents’ experiences dealing with their child’s short stature and the potential caregiving burdens and concerns they may face. We aim to review the literature on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), caregiving burden, and special needs among parents caring for a child with isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) or idiopathic short stature (ISS). Using pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, we systematically searched for literature using PubMed and Web of Science from its inception to December 2022. We identified 15 articles assessing HRQOL, special needs, or caregiving burdens in parents of IGHD/ISS children. The main problems included concerns about the future, organizational issues, side effects from growth hormone treatment, and social stigmatization. Furthermore, two studies assessed parents’ special needs to cope with caregiving stress, mainly the dialogue between them and their families or parent support groups. This review outlines parental burdens, needs, and resources when caring for an IGHD/ISS child. Furthermore, it provides information about previously used measures appraising parents’ special needs and underlines the need for disease-specific measurements.

Exercise Effects on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), Muscular Function, Cardiorespiratory Function, and Body Composition in Smokers: A Narrative Review

“…In this aspect, smokers with elevated stress levels frequently consider themselves as less healthy, have a poor sense of self-worth, and are more likely to engage in harmful lifestyle choices such as increased alcohol consumption/binge drinking, unsafe sex, usage of drugs, and heavy cigarette use [19]. Furthermore, smoking and stress levels have been linked to a variety of adverse consequences, including depression and anxiety [10,19]. Consequently, sadness, emptiness, anhedonia, poor self-care, poor focus, loss of capacity to function, sleep difficulties, feelings of worthlessness, and recurrent suicidal ideation are common in smokers with depression [13].…”

“…Various studies have reported that smokers are underweight {lower body mass index (BMI)} when compared to non-smokers [10,19,30]. However, evidence suggests that smokers suffer from developing central fat accumulation, mostly seen among female smokers [30].…”

“…Friends who smoke, poor academic performance (i.e., low levels of motivation, curiosity, passion, and readiness to learn as well as an undesirable learning mentality), absence of parental support, high alcohol intake, pro-smoking attitudes, and low socioeconomic position are important variables that predict the transition to regular smoking [9]. Nevertheless, various factors such as stress, sadness, anxiety, and a person's health-related quality of life (HRQOL) may also contribute to this change [10]. When compared to non-smokers, smokers' HRQOL has been reported to differ [11,12].…”