Comparison of the General Health Status between Mothers of Educable Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Mothers of Normal Children

Mother's health is very important for the child's development. If the child has certain conditions, the health of the mother can be affected. The current study aimed at comparing the general health status between the mothers of educable children with intellectual disabilities and mothers of normal children in Birjand city, Iran.
The present descriptive-comparative study was conducted on all mothers of the educable children with intellectual disabilities as well as the mothers of normal children. The sample population included 76 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities and 100 mothers of normal children. Mothers of children with intellectual disabilities were selected using the purposive sampling method and mothers of normal children were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. To collect data, the general health questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 19.
There was no significant difference in the general health status between mothers of children with intellectual disabilities and mothers of normal children (P 0.05).
Mothers of children with intellectual disabilities are not different from the mothers of normal children in terms of the general health status. It is suggested to implement training courses in order to develop adaptation and raise more attention to the general health aspects of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities.