Özet:

Down syndrome (DS) children with hypothyroidism are elevated risk for psychological disturbances and this risk has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore quality of life is very important to be evaluated. The aim of this study is to evaluate factors influencing quality of life (QoL) among  DS children with hypothyroidism during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study of 30 DS children with hypothyroidism (aged 2-18 years) was conducted from  April-July 2021 by Pediatric Endocrine Outpatient Clinic of  Dr. Soetomo Hospital. Participants were evaluated using The Peds QoL Generic core which evaluates  physical (p), emotional (e), social (s), and school (sc) functioning dimension. A score below 70 was considered indicative of poor QoL. Differences in dimensional and total scores were evaluated among age groups, between sexes, and according to physical activity levels, number of siblings, parental education level, and parental employment status using Spearman’s test, Mann-Whitney U-test, or independent-samples t-test as indicated. 30 DS children with hypothyroidism included in the study. Mean scores for all dimension was 58.3, whereas mean score for each dimension: p; e; s; sc was (54.1; 63.8; 56.6; 61.6) respectively. There was a significant difference between boy and girl on median phyisical functioning dimension score (57.8 vs 45.9) but not emotional, social, or school functioning dimension score. There was also a significant correlation between age and emotional functioning dimension (P=0.02; r=-0.4). Participants aged 2-4 years demonstrated lower  mean scores than older  children (57.2). DS children with hypothyroidism are experiencing poor QoL during COVID-19 pandemic, specially in the physicial dimension. Interventions hould focus on opportunities for safe physiical activity.

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