Symptoms and quality of life in obese children and adolescents with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 31, 396–406 Summary Background Data on the quality of life (QOL) of children with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are needed to estimate the true burden of illness in children with NAFLD. Aim To characterize QOL and symptoms of children with NAFLD and to compare QOL in children with NAFLD with that in a sample of healthy children. Methods Quality of life and symptoms were assessed in children with biopsy‐proven NAFLD enrolled in the NASH Clinical Research Network. PedsQL scores were compared with scores from healthy children. For children with NAFLD, between‐group comparisons were made to test associations of demography, histological severity, symptoms and QOL. Results A total of 239 children (mean age 12.6 years) were studied. Children with NAFLD had worse total (72.8 vs. 83.8, P