The relationship between physical and mental health multimorbidity and children’s health-related quality of life.

Abstract

Plain language summary Ongoing physical and mental health problems are common in children and adolescents and, often, children can experience both problems together. Mental and physical health problems can have wide impacts for the child, including their health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which is a measure of the way the child’s health impacts their emotional, social and physical functioning during their day-to-day life. Our study shows that children with high levels of mental health symptoms have much poorer HRQoL than their peers, and we provide new evidence that even milder mental health symptoms are associated with poorer HRQoL than in children with physical health problems. When children have both physical and mental health problems, they are at even greater risk of poorer HRQoL than would be expected. Based on our findings, we recommend that clinicians should monitor and address mental health symptoms in children as young as 4–7 years old, even if these symptoms are milder, and particular attention should be given to children with physical and mental health problems, who are at greater risk of poor HRQoL.