Discrepancy in Parent-, Child-Reported Outcomes Affects Child”s Quality of Life After Liver Transplant

THURSDAY, Dec. 4, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The greater the difference between how a parent and a child perceive the child”s quality of life following a liver transplant, the lower the child”s actual quality of life, according to a study published online Nov. 14 in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Eyal Shemesh, M.D., from Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital in New York City, and colleagues evaluated the relationship between patient outcomes and a discrepancy score, a new way to quantify caretaker versus child discrepancies on patient-reported outcome measures. The analysis included 140 patients (median age 13 years) at least one year following a primary liver transplantation and their primary adult caretaker. 

The researchers found that health-related quality of life was not associated with liver outcomes. However, there was an association between health-related quality of life and discrepancy scores in both the first and second administration (Pearson correlation, −0.469 and −0.347, respectively).

“This study introduces a completely new way to understand patient-reported outcomes,” Shemesh said in a statement. “Historically, clinicians and researchers have asked, “Who is right — the parent or the child?” Our work flips that question. What matters is how different their views are. Those discrepancies provide powerful insight into how the child is truly coping, and they offer clinicians a real-time opportunity to bridge perspectives and meaningfully improve a child”s well-being.”

One author disclosed that he is the CEO of RealTime Clinic, the app used for this study.

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