Association of Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties with Quality of Life for Iraqi Children with Short Stature

Abstract Background: Short stature (SS) is a condition in which a child’s or teen’s height is well below the average height of his or her peers. The importance of adaptation, the potential effects of stature height, and the effects of growth hormone therapy need to be researched to better understand psychological functioning. Objective: The study will measure the degree of impact of SS on behavioral patterns and quality of life (QoL) in children. Materials and Methods: One hundred children and adolescents, with a diagnosis of idiopathic SS (ISS) (40 cases) and growth hormone deficiency (GHD) (60 cases), participated in this study with their parents. Their age was between 4 and 17 years old. The parents were given a written questionnaire to fill out, which included questions that determined the psychological performance and the QoL of their children. Results: The total difficulties and the QoL scores for the ISS and GHD were close to each other. The association with the sociodemographic data showed no significance except in gender, with more depressed QoL in male. The correlation was negative between the degree of difficulties and the QoL of both the GHD and the ISS. Conclusion: The result of this study shows that there is an increase in the scores given by the parents of SS groups for the overall assessment of psychosocial problems and a decrease in the QOL scores due to the significant impact of height.