Family functioning among adolescents with narcolepsy

Arpita Parmar; Eluen Ann Yeh; Daphne J Korczak; Shelly K Weiss; Zihang Lu; Allison Zweerink; Alene Toulany; Brian J Murray; Indra Narang

doi:10.1093/pch/pxy192

Family functioning among adolescents with narcolepsy

Paediatr Child Health. 2019 Dec;24(8):490-494. doi: 10.1093/pch/pxy192. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Authors

Arpita Parmar^{1

2}, Eluen Ann Yeh^{2

3}, Daphne J Korczak^{2

4}, Shelly K Weiss^{2

3}, Zihang Lu², Allison Zweerink^{1

2}, Alene Toulany^{2

5}, Brian J Murray^{2

6}, Indra Narang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Respiratory Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
² University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
³ Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
⁵ Division of Adolescent Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario.
⁶ Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario.

Abstract

Background: Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder with no cure with onset typically during adolescence. Caring for an adolescent with a lifelong medical condition can negatively impact family structure, cohesion, relationships, and overall functioning. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate family functioning in a cohort of adolescents with narcolepsy using the PedsQL Family Impact Module. The secondary objective was to compare family functioning in adolescents with narcolepsy to adolescents with chronic pain based on published data.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of adolescents (aged 10 to 18 years) with narcolepsy. The narcolepsy group was recruited from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. Family functioning was assessed by the PedsQL family impact module total scores, which was completed by the patient's caregiver. The PedsQL family impact module yields a total scale which encompasses parent health-related quality of life, daily activities, family relationships, communication, and worry subscales. Lower scores suggest poorer family functioning. Secondary data analyses were used to compare participants' family functioning to a cohort of adolescents with chronic pain.

Results: Thirty adolescents with narcolepsy participated (mean age=13.8 ± 2.2 years, 76.7% male). Family functioning was impaired in this cohort of adolescents with narcolepsy and similar to adolescents with chronic pain (64.0 ± 19.8 versus 64.7 ± 19.5; P=0.849).

Conclusion: Family functioning is impaired in adolescents with narcolepsy. Clinical teams should assess family functioning at routine clinic visits by asking about concerns and challenges related to caring for an adolescent with narcolepsy and providing resources and support as needed.

Keywords: Adolescents; Caregivers; Family; Narcolepsy.