Association of ethnicity and adaptive functioning with health-related quality of life in pediatric myelomeningocele.
Navya N Kamath, Paulina A Kulesz, Jack M Fletcher and 2 others
PMID 36442218WHAT IT FOUND
Hispanic children with spina bifida reported higher quality of life than White peers when adaptive skills were high.
This link was absent at lower skill levels. Clinicians should ask families about their specific goals for independence rather than assuming motor skills drive well-being.
Key findings
01Total adaptive functioning was positively associated with health-related quality of life.
02Ethnicity moderated the relationship between adaptive functioning and quality of life, with Hispanic participants reporting higher quality of life than non-Hispanic Whites at higher levels of both motor and nonmotor adaptive functioning.
03Ethnicity alone was not associated with quality of life after controlling for socioeconomic status.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional and associational; it cannot prove that increasing adaptive functioning causes higher quality of life. Adaptive functioning and quality of life are overlapping constructs, and the measures used may share common method variance since both relied heavily on caregiver ratings (though self-report was used for adolescents). The HRQOL-SB measure does not allow for self-report for younger children, relying on proxy ratings for ages 5-12, which can differ from child self-perception. The study excluded participants identifying as Black, Asian, American Indian, or Mixed Race, limiting generalizability to other ethnic groups. Detailed data on acculturation, language spoken at home, and immigration status were not collected, which are important factors in understanding cultural differences.
Declared interests
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The study was supported by the N.I.H. (Extramural).
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the higher HRQOL in Hispanic participants as evidence that ethnicity inherently improves well-being. The difference only emerged at higher levels of adaptive functioning, and ethnicity alone was not associated with HRQOL after controlling for socioeconomic status.