Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA.
Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2020 Jul;34:100808. doi: 10.1016/j.spen.2020.100808. Epub 2020 Mar 5.
Prior studies have documented a lower quality of life (QOL) in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) compared to typically developing peers, but few studies have examined the trajectory of QOL over time in the same population. We conducted a 2-year cohort study in 29 children attending a specialized school for ASD with quarterly measures of parent-rated QOL as well as parent and teacher measures of behavior and social skills to determine the trajectory of change in QOL and predictors of change. The average change in QOL was constant (no change over time), but there was substantial variation with some students showing significant gains and others showing declines. Exploratory analyses revealed that improvements in behavior and social skills were greater (nonsignificantly) among children with improvements in QOL. Children with improved QOL were also younger and had a lower initial symptom burden. This study suggests that early intervention programs that provide social skills and behavioral management strategies may improve QOL in children with ASD. The study also highlights the need to develop and study novel, qualitative measures of QOL in this population.
先前的研究记录了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的生活质量（QOL）低于典型发育同龄人，但很少有研究在同一人群中检查 QOL 的随时间变化轨迹。我们对 29 名在专门的 ASD 学校就读的儿童进行了为期 2 年的队列研究，每季度对家长评定的 QOL 以及家长和教师评定的行为和社会技能进行测量，以确定 QOL 的变化轨迹和变化的预测因素。QOL 的平均变化是恒定的（随时间没有变化），但变化幅度很大，一些学生表现出明显的提高，而另一些学生则表现出下降。探索性分析显示，在 QOL 改善的儿童中，行为和社会技能的改善更大（无统计学意义）。QOL 改善的儿童也更年轻，初始症状负担更低。这项研究表明，提供社交技能和行为管理策略的早期干预计划可能会提高 ASD 儿童的生活质量。该研究还强调了在该人群中开发和研究新的、定性的生活质量测量方法的必要性。
