Page 102 - Effects and Efficacy of (Laparoscopic) Gastrostomy Placement in Children - Josephine Franken

MeTHoDs
A cross-sectional study was performed including all children (age 0-18 years) who had undergone GP between January 2004 and December 2011 at the Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU).
surgical procedure
GP was performed laparoscopically under general anesthesia in all pediatric patients. All procedures were performed or supervised by an experienced pediatric surgeon. Operations were performed by 6 different pediatric surgeons.
ethical approval and informed consent
This study was submitted to the UMCU Ethics Committee (EC). The EC ruled that the current study did not fall under the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act.
Clinical assessment
Patient characteristics and medical history were derived from the electronic patient records. For evaluation of HRQoL, the PedsQLTM 4.0 Generic Core Scales was filled out. Questionnaires were given in proxy report by caregivers and completed in private.
The PedsQLTM is subdivided into four age-adjusted questionnaires (ages: 2-4; 5-7; 8-12 and 13-18 years) and a parallel self-report for children (ages: 5-7; 8-12 and 13-18 years). The inventory comprises 23 items. The HRQoL total score is divided into two main health scores: physical health summary score (8 items) and psychosocial health summary score (15 items). The psychosocial health score is reflected by the mean of three domains: emotional functioning (5 items), social functioning (5 items), and school functioning (5 items). Items were reverse-scored and scale scores per domain were computed as the sum of the items divided by the number of items answered. Scale scores were then transformed into a scale from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate better HRQoL. The PedsQLTM version for the age category 2-4 years is shown in Table 1 as an illustration of HRQoL assessment.
Data on gastrostomy use and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms were obtained from the Gastroesophageal Reflux Symptom Questionnaire15 and a Gastrostomy Placement-specific questionnaire (Table 2). Caregivers filled out these questionnaires at the time of the HRQoL assessment.
statistical analysis
The mean HRQoL was investigated in all subdomains of HRQoL assessment. For the PedsQLTM Generic Core Scales, no normal values are available. The only available data
100