Quality of life in children with retinoblastoma after enucleation in China.

OBJECTIVE: To study the quality of life of Chinese pediatric patients with retinoblastoma (RB) after enucleation and the influencing factors.

METHODS: A questionnaire survey was performed on 71 cases of pediatric patients with RB after enucleation and 80 cases of healthy children, using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 Generic Core Scales (PedsQL™ 4.0).

RESULTS: The social dimension scores, school dimension scores, and total scores for the PedsQL™ 4.0 among the pediatric patients with RB were statistically significantly lower than those of healthy children. The influencing factors were unilateral/bilateral affected eyes, diagnosis age, and ocular prosthesis satisfaction.

CONCLUSION: Early discovery, timely treatment, increased eye salvage rate, and cosmetic effects of ocular prosthesis were key factors for increasing the quality of life of pediatric patients with RB. Attention should be paid to the health, social, and school development of pediatric patients with RB.