Quality of life of disabled children's mother: a comparative study

Objectives: Quality of life for disabled children often has been assessed based on functional status or parental perceptions rather than direct reports from the children. The objective of this study was evaluating the quality of life of mothers with disabled children. Method: There is widespread acceptance of the need for disabled children to be fully integrated into society but there needs to be further attitudinal change. Totally forty mothers with a cerebral palsy child and forty mothers with health problems participated in a study. Health Survey was used to assess a mother’s quality of life Results: The mean scores on Health Survey were significantly lower in mothers of children with disabled child than those of the other group. The quality of life scores also was correlated with the severity of disability. Coping strategies were clear correlates of health related quality of life when socio-demographic, disability related and social support variables were studied. The relationship between coping strategies and quality of life was the more revaluation of life values. Conclusion: The results suggest that greater focus needs to be directed to coping strategies and to ways of facilitating adaptive outcomes in rehabilitation. Different coping strategies and psychosocial programmes must be designed and implemented to decrease the burden of care.