Pediatric allo-SCT for malignant and non-malignant diseases: impact on health-related quality of life outcomes

The objective of this study was prospectively to investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of 80 pediatric recipients of allo-SCT for malignant and non-malignant diseases. The PedsQL 4.0 was used to assess self-reported physical, emotional and social functioning of children ⩾5 years old once, pre-allo-SCT and on days +100, +180, +365 and +730. Emotional and social functioning was stable pre-to-post-allo-SCT and comparable to the normative sample ( P >0.05), and physical functioning was 17 points lower pre-allo-SCT ( P ⩽0.01) with improved scores equivalent to the norms by day +730. Lower physical scores were reflected by 50–54% of children reporting difficulties with movement, strength, pain and fatigue. At baseline, children ages 5–7 reported lower social functioning ( P