Effect of COVID-19 on Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents and Children: A Systematic Review

Hadi Nobari, Mohamad Fashi, Arezoo Eskandari, Santos Villafaina, Álvaro Murillo-Garcia and Jorge Pérez-Gómez
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Hadi Nobari: Department of Physical Education and Sports, University of Granada, 18010 Granada, Spain
Mohamad Fashi: Department of Biological Sciences in Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 198396-3113, Iran
Arezoo Eskandari: Department of Exercise Physiology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Science, Tehran University, Tehran 1417935840, Iran
Santos Villafaina: Physical Activity and Quality of Life Research Group (AFYCAV), Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Av. De Universidad s/n, 10003 Caceres, Spain
Álvaro Murillo-Garcia: Physical Activity and Quality of Life Research Group (AFYCAV), Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, Av. De Universidad s/n, 10003 Caceres, Spain
Jorge Pérez-Gómez: HEME Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: The aim of the present systematic review was to assess and provide an up-to-date analysis of the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children and adolescents. Thus, an electronic search of the literature, in two well-known databases (PubMed and Web of Science), was performed until February 2021 (without date restriction). PRISMA guideline methodology was employed and data regarding the HRQoL were extracted from eligible studies. Articles were included if they met the following inclusion criteria: (a) children and/or adolescent population (4 to 19 years old); (b) HRQoL as a main assessment; (c) German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English language; and (d) pre-pandemic and during pandemic HRQoL data. Following the initial search, 241 possible related articles were identified. A total of 79 articles were identified as duplicates. Moreover, 129 articles were removed after reading the title and abstract. Of the remaining 33 articles, 27 were removed since they were not focused on children or adolescents ( n = 19), articles did not report pre- and post- pandemic HRQoL values ( n = 6), articles were not focused on HRQoL ( n = 6), and one article was an editorial. Finally, six studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and, therefore, were included in the systematic review. A total of 3177 children and/or adolescents during COVID-19 were included in this systematic review. Three articles showed that COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the HRQoL of children and adolescents, and another did not report comparison between pre- and during COVID-19 pandemic, although a reduction in the HRQoL can be observed. Nevertheless, two articles did not find significant changes and another one did not report p -values. Regarding sex differences, only two studies analyzed this topic, observing no differences between girls and boys in the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HRQoL. Taking into account these results, this systematic review might confirm that COVID-19 has a negative impact on the HRQoL of children and/or adolescents.

Keywords: adolescent; COVID-19; children; HRQoL; lifestyle; wellbeing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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