Sulaimani Ghofran H, Kamel Shady, Alotaibi Ghadi, Telmesani Nada
Preventive Medicine and Public Health Department, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAU.
Saudi Field Epidemiology Training Program, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAU.
Cureus. 2023 Jul 3;15(7):e41320. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41320. eCollection 2023 Jul.
The physical and mental health of parents can be adversely affected by their child's disability, leading to a potential decline in their overall Quality of Life (QoL). This research aimed to determine the QoL of family caregivers and compare this based on sociodemographic factors and child characteristics.
An analytical cross-sectional design was employed, and data were collected from multiple rehabilitation centers for children with special needs and learning disorders in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study sample comprised 95 family caregivers who completed a self-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire included sections on sociodemographic characteristics, child characteristics, and caregivers' QoL assessed using the RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). The collected data were analyzed using the IBM Corp. Released 2022. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 29.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp, employing descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression analysis.
Our findings revealed that the overall mean QoL score among caregivers was 57, ranging from 12 to 94. There were no statistically significant differences in QoL scores based on caregivers' age, gender, occupational status, or income. However, further analysis indicated significant associations between certain factors and specific domains of QoL. Specifically, caregiver education was found to be associated with role limitations due to emotional problems, while relationships with disabled children were linked to emotional well-being. The severity of the child's disability and the presence of another child with a disability in the family were associated with the bodily pain domain. Additionally, the presence of another child with a disability had an impact on perceived change in the health domain.
The QoL of family caregivers varied, highlighting the significant challenges faced by certain individuals. Factors such as education level, the relationship with the child, the severity of the disability, and the presence of multiple disabled children in the family were identified as influencing caregivers' QoL. These findings emphasize the importance of developing targeted interventions that can address emotional well-being and fatigue management while promoting a supportive society.
孩子的残疾会对父母的身心健康产生不利影响，导致他们的总体生活质量（QoL）可能下降。本研究旨在确定家庭照顾者的生活质量，并根据社会人口学因素和孩子的特征进行比较。
采用分析性横断面设计，从沙特阿拉伯王国多个针对有特殊需求和学习障碍儿童的康复中心收集数据。研究样本包括95名完成了自编问卷的家庭照顾者。问卷包括社会人口学特征、孩子特征以及使用兰德36项简短健康调查（SF-36）评估的照顾者生活质量等部分。使用IBM公司2022年发布的IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows，版本29.0对收集的数据进行分析。纽约州阿蒙克市：IBM公司，采用描述性统计和多元线性回归分析。
我们的研究结果显示，照顾者的总体生活质量平均得分为57分，范围为12至94分。基于照顾者的年龄、性别、职业状况或收入，生活质量得分没有统计学上的显著差异。然而，进一步分析表明，某些因素与生活质量的特定领域之间存在显著关联。具体而言，发现照顾者的教育程度与因情绪问题导致的角色限制有关，而与残疾儿童的关系则与情绪健康有关。孩子残疾的严重程度以及家庭中另一个残疾孩子的存在与身体疼痛领域有关。此外，另一个残疾孩子的存在对健康领域的感知变化有影响。
家庭照顾者的生活质量各不相同，凸显了某些个体面临的重大挑战。教育水平、与孩子的关系、残疾的严重程度以及家庭中多个残疾孩子的存在等因素被确定为影响照顾者生活质量的因素。这些发现强调了制定有针对性干预措施的重要性，这些措施可以解决情绪健康和疲劳管理问题，同时促进一个支持性的社会环境。
