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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Rheumatology
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1465976

Medium term health and quality of life outcomes in a cohort of children with MIS-C in Cape Town, South Africa. Author

Provisionally accepted
Frank Phoya Frank Phoya 1,2,3*Claire Butters Claire Butters 3Timothy Spracklen Timothy Spracklen 3,4Hanna L Kassa Hanna L Kassa 3Hamza Van Der Ross Hamza Van Der Ross 3Chris Scott Chris Scott 3Kate Webb Kate Webb 3,5
  • 1 University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 2 Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi
  • 3 Division of Paediatric Rheumatology, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 4 Cape Heart Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
  • 5 Crick Africa Network, The Francis Crick Institute, London, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a disease that occurs after exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)". Its short-term effects have been documented but little data exist on the longer term effects of MIS-C on the health and quality of life of patients. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term effects of MIS-C on the quality of life (QOL) of children.This study was a descriptive prospective study. We included twenty-four participants with previous MIS-C and twenty children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) as a positive comparator group. All children were examined and completed a paediatric quality of life (PedsQL) generic inventory score. This score was used to evaluate the School Functioning, Social, Emotional, and Physical quality of life domains.Results: All participants with previous MIS-C made a full recovery, with no medical complaints, and normal physical examinations after a median of 705 days post acute diagnosis. The PedsQL inventory revealed that 16.7% of the children with previous MIS-C showed a deficit in the physical domain compared to 60% of the children with JIA (p<0.001). 12.5% of the children with previous MIS-C had a deficit in their psychosocial domain which included emotional, social, and educational scores, compared to 40 % of the children with JIA (p=0.035).In a cohort of 24 South African children with previous MIS-C, no medical complications were reported. A small proportion felt a prolonged effect on their QOL even after making a full recovery, although this was not as severe as children with JIA, a known chronic disease that affects QOL. This highlights the need to continue to follow up these patients and offer more comprehensive long-term care.

    Keywords: MIS-C multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, Quality of Life, Juvenile idiopathic arthiritis, South Africa, Physical deficits

    Received: 17 Jul 2024; Accepted: 25 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Phoya, Butters, Spracklen, Kassa, Van Der Ross, Scott and Webb. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Frank Phoya, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.