Quality of Life and Musculoskeletal Pain of Caregivers of Children with Cerebral Palsy at Physical Disability Schools

Children with Cerebral palsy need for caring at school because of their inability to perform daily occupations. The caregivers at physical disability schools provide care support for these children at school time. The caring is accompanied by physical and psychological tension and may affect the caregivers’ health and therefore quality of life. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the musculoskeletal pain and quality of life of caregivers of children with Cerebral Palsy at physical disability schools. In the present cross-sectional study, caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in Tehran, Isfahan, and Karaj who were willing to participate in the study and met the inclusion criteria were recruited. Finally, 92 participants took part in the study. The evaluations were done using the Persian version of the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire, Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), and Visual Analog Scale. The statistical analyses of data were done using exploratory factor analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient tests. The results indicated that the mean score for the study sample on physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) were 58.81 and 59.01, respectively. The greatest amount of pain and functional limitations were found in the lower back and knees, and the highest intensity of pain were found in the shoulders, neck, as well as upper and lower back. There were also a significant correlation between musculoskeletal pain and quality of life (r=0/523, P=0.001). Furthermore, there were significant correlations between work experience, insurance, working hours, income as well as Multiple job and physical pain (P<0/05). Permanent caring for many children with cerebral palsy and doing the heavy and repetitive caring tasks not only reduce the quality of life but also cause physical pain in the caregivers of children with cerebral palsy at physical disability schools. It is suggested that more support and pre-employment trainings about the principles of caring be provided to prevent physical pain in caregivers.