Caregiver-Child Agreement in Health-Related Quality of Life of Autistic Children and Adolescents.
Mauricio A Lopez-Espejo, Alicia C Nuñez, Melanie Ruz and 3 others
PMID 35922687WHAT IT FOUND
Caregiver and child quality of life ratings usually agreed, but caregivers tended to rate emotional functioning lower than children, especially in children aged 8 to 12.
Ask children directly when planning care.
Key findings
01Caregiver and child PedsQL scores showed good to excellent agreement overall, but children reported higher physical health scores than caregivers.
02In children aged 8 to 12, caregivers reported lower emotional functioning scores than the children themselves.
03Caregiver school functioning scores varied with whether the child used antipsychotic or methylphenidate medication.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional and used a convenience sample from a single neurodevelopmental unit, so it cannot show that medication use caused school functioning differences. Five children could not complete the questionnaire because of comprehension difficulties, so the findings do not cover children who could not answer the questionnaire. Most participants were boys, and the sample was mainly urban and white Hispanic, so findings may not generalize to autistic girls, indigenous communities, or rural groups. Only 16 children had IQ below 70, so the effect of intellectual disability on caregiver-child agreement may be underestimated. The study did not evaluate possible combined effects of antipsychotic and methylphenidate medications on HRQOL perception.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that antipsychotic or methylphenidate medication causes differences in caregiver-reported school functioning. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show cause.