School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
China Research Center on Disability, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Dec 12;17(24):9299. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17249299.
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of caregivers of children with disabilities (CWD) is important for both children's rehabilitation and caregivers' life, but the corresponding attention is far from enough in mainland China. Thus, we investigated the HRQOL of 170 caregivers and related factors in Shanghai. The 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) was used to measure HRQOL. The potential factors were collected, including child characteristics, caregiver characteristics, and environmental factors. Univariate analysis and multiple linear regression were performed to identify the key factors that could be intervened. Compared with the general population, caregivers of CWD had a slightly higher score on the physical component summary (PCS, 52.57 ± 8.41), but the score of mental component summary (MCS, 31.58 ± 7.72) was extremely low. Caregiver's illness condition, family size, and household income were significant factors of physical HRQOL. Caregivers with illness and caregivers living in an extended family were associated with higher mental HRQOL. Whereas these two factors had opposite effects on physical HRQOL. This finding indicated poor mental HRQOL among caregivers of CWD in Shanghai and thus requiring urgent attention and intervention. Improving physical fitness, maintaining family integration, and providing financial support should be considered when developing intervention for this population.
残疾儿童照顾者的健康相关生活质量（HRQOL）对儿童康复和照顾者的生活都很重要，但在中国大陆，这方面的关注度远远不够。因此，我们调查了上海 170 名照顾者的 HRQOL 及其相关因素。采用 12 项简明健康调查量表（SF-12）来衡量 HRQOL。收集了潜在因素，包括儿童特征、照顾者特征和环境因素。采用单因素分析和多元线性回归来确定可干预的关键因素。与一般人群相比，残疾儿童照顾者的生理成分综合得分（PCS，52.57±8.41）略高，但心理成分综合得分（MCS，31.58±7.72）极低。照顾者的患病情况、家庭规模和家庭收入是生理 HRQOL 的显著因素。患有疾病的照顾者和生活在大家庭中的照顾者与较高的心理 HRQOL 相关。而这两个因素对生理 HRQOL 有相反的影响。这一发现表明上海残疾儿童照顾者的心理 HRQOL 较差，因此需要紧急关注和干预。在为这一人群制定干预措施时，应考虑改善身体健康、保持家庭完整和提供经济支持。
