1 - Hospital Pediátrico, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Av. Afonso Romão, 3000-602 Coimbra, Portugal
2 - Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal
3 - Bristol Vaccine Centre, Schools of Population Health Sciences and of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, BS2 8AE, UK
4 - Hospital D. Estefânia, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Central, Rua Jacinta Marto, 1150-191 Lisboa, Portugal
5 - Hospital Prof. Doutor Fernando Fonseca, IC 19, 2720-276 Amadora, Portugal
6 - Hospital Infante D. Pedro, Av. Dr. Artur Ravara, 3810-164 Aveiro, Portugal
7 - Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho (Unidade 2), Rua Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, 4400-129 Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
8 - Hospital de Braga, Rua das Comunidades Lusíadas 133, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal
9 - Hospital Santa Maria, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Av. Prof. Egas Moniz, 1649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
10 - Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Av. Carlos Teixeira, 2674-514 Loures, Portugal
11 - Hospital do Espírito Santo, Largo Senhor da Pobreza, 7000-811 Évora, Portugal
12 - Centro Materno Infantil do Norte, Largo da Maternidade de Júlio Dinis, 4050-651 Porto, Portugal
13 - Hospital Nélio Mendonça, Av. Luís de Camões 6180, 9000-177 Funchal, Portugal
14 - Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de S. João, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
15 - Hospital de Faro, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário do Algarve, Rua Leão Penedo, 8000-386 Faro, Portugal
16 - Hospital de Santo André, Centro Hospitalar Leiria Pombal, Rua de Santo André, 2410-197 Leiria, Portugal
17 - Hospital do Divino Espírito Santo, Av. D. Manuel I, 9500-370 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
- Vaccine. 2023 Feb 3;41(6):1182-1189. doi: 10.1016/j (open access)
Introduction and aims: Although usually benign, varicella can lead to serious complications and sometimes long-term sequelae. Vaccines are safe and effective but not yet included in immunisation programmesin many countries. We aimed to quantify the impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALY) in children with varicella and their families, key to assessing cost-utility in countries with low mortality due to this infection.
Methods: Children with varicella in the community and admitted to hospitals in Portugal were included over 18 months from January 2019. Children’s and carers’ HRQoL losses were assessed prospectively using standard multi-attribute utility instruments for measuring HRQoL (EQ-5D and CHU9D), from presentation to recovery, allowing the calculation of QALYs.
Results: Among 109 families with children with varicella recruited from attendees at a pediatric emergency service (community arm), the mean HRQoL loss/child was 2.0 days (95 % CI 1.9–2.2, n = 101) (mean 5.4 QALYs/1000 children (95 % CI 5.3–6.1) and 1.3 days/primary carer (95 % CI 1.2–1.6, n = 103) (mean 3.6 QALYs /1000 carers (95 % CI 3.4–4.4). Among 114 families with children admitted to hospital because of severe varicella or a complication(hospital arm), the mean HRQoL loss/child was 9.8 days (95 % CI 9.4–10.6, n = 114) (mean 26.8 QALYs/1000 children (95 % CI 25.8–29.0) and 8.5 days/primary carer (95 % CI 7.4–9.6, n = 114) (mean 23.4 QALYs/1000 carers (95 % CI 20.3–26.2). Mean QALY losses/1000 patients were particularly high for bone and joint infections [67.5 (95 % CI 43.9–97.6)]. Estimates for children’s QALYs lost using the CHU9D tool were well correlated with those obtained using EQ-5D, but substantially lower.
Conclusions: The impact of varicella on HRQoL is substantial. We report the first measurements of QALYs lost in hospitalised children and in the families of children both in the community and admitted to hospital, providing important information to guide vaccination policy recommendations.
Palavras Chave: Health-related quality of life, children, hospitalised varicella