Sisay Lema Chemeda^1,, Bikiltu Belissa Gobosho², Helen Mintesnot Desalegn¹, Telile Belissa Gobosho³, Walelegn Worku Yallew⁴

Background –Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is one of the most frequent causes of acquired heart disease in children. It exerts negative impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients and their parents. The aim of this study was to assess HRQOL of children with Rheumatic heart disease at Tikur Anbessa Specialized hospital (TASH), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods – Facility based, cross-sectional study was conducted in the Pediatrics Cardiac Clinic at TASH from November, 2023 to April, 2024. The study included 242 children with RHD. Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 Generic Core Scales and 3.0 Cardiac Module was used to collect data. SPSS version 25 was used for data entry and analysis. The numerical variables were expressed as the means and standard deviation (SD). Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relation between the outcome and predictor variable at a significance level of p<0.05. Results – The overall health related quality of life in children with RHD was high, moderate and poor in 40.5%, 45% and 14.5% respectively. Age, number of medications used and number of admissions had statistically significant association with HRQOL. The odds of having a higher HRQOL level reduced by a factor of 0.68 for each year increase in age; with each additional medication used the likelihood of having higher HRQOL level increased by approximately 58%; for each additional hospital admission, the likelihood of having a higher HRQOL level increased by a factor of approximately 62%. Conclusions – HRQOL was affected moderately in the majority of children with RHD in Tikur Anbessa specialized hospital. Factors significantly associated with health related quality of life were age, number of medications used and number of admissions.

health related quality of life, rheumatic heart disease, acquired heart disease