POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access Childhood morphea does not impair self- perception R Carlomagno, G Russo * , C Forni, F Orlando, R Vitale, N Scotti, M Alessio From 18th Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PReS) Congress Bruges, Belgium. 14-18 September 2011 Background Morphea (localized scleroderma) is an uncommon chronic disease that occurs primarily in children, limited to skin. Morphea influences virtually child’s life, causing lifelong dysfunction through localized growth failure and joint contracture. Aim To ascertain whether morphea affects perception of quality of life. Methods We studied 19 patients attending our Department (68,4% female, median age 13,6 yrs). The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) was adminis- tered to all patients. The CHAQ is a disease specific instrument selected because of its widespread use in the pediatric rheumatology literature and ease of adminis- tration. The CHAQ measures functional ability in eight activities of daily living: dressing and grooming, arising, eating, walking, hygiene, reach, grip and activities. The items with the highest score in a domain determine the score for that domain. These eight domains are then averaged into a summary score called the disability index which may range from 0 to 3, with the higher scores meaning higher disability. The CHAQ also provided an assessment of discomfort using a 10 cm VAS visual analogical scale (VAS) for the evaluation of overall wellbeing. Results The median CHAQ score was 0,43 (range 0-3). The median VAS score was 1,5. Despite the potentially dis- figuring effects of morphea, our subjects had normal self-perception. Conclusions This finding runs contrary to hypothesis that morphea would result in a lower self-esteem. Our findings suggest that pediatric morphea, like many other chronic childhood diseases, does not lead to significant reductions in self-worth. Published: 14 September 2011 Reference 1. Balidam EM, et al: J Rheumatol 2011, 38:167-73. doi:10.1186/1546-0096-9-S1-P78 Cite this article as: Carlomagno et al.: Childhood morphea does not impair self-perception. Pediatric Rheumatology 2011 9(Suppl 1):P78. Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: • Convenient online submission • Thorough peer review • No space constraints or color ﬁgure charges • Immediate publication on acceptance • Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar • Research which is freely available for redistribution Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit Department of Pediatrics,Federico II University, Naples, Italy Carlomagno et al. Pediatric Rheumatology 2011, 9(Suppl 1):P78 http://www.ped-rheum.com/content/9/S1/P78 © 2011 Carlomagno et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Childhood morphea does not impair self-perception

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Page 1: Childhood morphea does not impair self-perception

POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access

Childhood morphea does not impair self-perceptionR Carlomagno, G Russo*, C Forni, F Orlando, R Vitale, N Scotti, M Alessio

From 18th Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PReS) CongressBruges, Belgium. 14-18 September 2011

BackgroundMorphea (localized scleroderma) is an uncommonchronic disease that occurs primarily in children, limitedto skin. Morphea influences virtually child’s life, causinglifelong dysfunction through localized growth failureand joint contracture.

AimTo ascertain whether morphea affects perception ofquality of life.

MethodsWe studied 19 patients attending our Department(68,4% female, median age 13,6 yrs). The ChildhoodHealth Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) was adminis-tered to all patients. The CHAQ is a disease specificinstrument selected because of its widespread use in thepediatric rheumatology literature and ease of adminis-tration. The CHAQ measures functional ability in eightactivities of daily living: dressing and grooming, arising,eating, walking, hygiene, reach, grip and activities. Theitems with the highest score in a domain determine thescore for that domain. These eight domains are thenaveraged into a summary score called the disabilityindex which may range from 0 to 3, with the higherscores meaning higher disability. The CHAQ also pro-vided an assessment of discomfort using a 10 cm VASvisual analogical scale (VAS) for the evaluation of overallwellbeing.

ResultsThe median CHAQ score was 0,43 (range 0-3). Themedian VAS score was 1,5. Despite the potentially dis-figuring effects of morphea, our subjects had normalself-perception.

ConclusionsThis finding runs contrary to hypothesis that morpheawould result in a lower self-esteem. Our findings suggestthat pediatric morphea, like many other chronic child-hood diseases, does not lead to significant reductions inself-worth.

Published: 14 September 2011

Reference1. Balidam EM, et al: J Rheumatol 2011, 38:167-73.

doi:10.1186/1546-0096-9-S1-P78Cite this article as: Carlomagno et al.: Childhood morphea does notimpair self-perception. Pediatric Rheumatology 2011 9(Suppl 1):P78.

Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Centraland take full advantage of:

• Convenient online submission

• Thorough peer review

• No space constraints or color figure charges

• Immediate publication on acceptance

• Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar

• Research which is freely available for redistribution

Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit

Department of Pediatrics,Federico II University, Naples, Italy

Carlomagno et al. Pediatric Rheumatology 2011, 9(Suppl 1):P78http://www.ped-rheum.com/content/9/S1/P78

© 2011 Carlomagno et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CreativeCommons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0