Shiji Chalipat1, Sudhir Dnyaneshwar Malwade2, Geeta Rajendra Karambelkar3, Sharad Ramkrishna Agarkhedkar4, Vyshna Thejus Kannan5
BACKGROUND
Raising a child with chronic disability is stressful and demanding task which can affect the quality of life of the parent/caregiver adversely.
The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life of parents of children aged between 2-12 years with cerebral palsy.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a cross sectional descriptive questionnaire based study, which included 30 parents of children with cerebral palsy between 2-12 years of age attending Paediatric OPD or Rehabilitation services. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire and quality of life was assessed using World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF-) Questionnaire-short version. Statistical analysis was done with descriptive statistics using SPSS version 10.
RESULTS
The mean score of the social domain of quality of life of caregivers was the lowest (9.33±1.49 SD) followed by psychological (18.23±1.50 SD). Seventy percent of parents reported their overall quality of life as neither good nor poor and 66.67% of parents were satisfied with their own health.
CONCLUSION
Quality of life of parents of children with CP was affected in all domains, with predominant affection of social domain. More than half of parents were satisfied with their own general health and they reported overall quality of life was neither good nor poor.
