Quality of life among children survivors of land mine and explosive remnants of war

Physical and general health limitations may affect quality of life among children survivors of land mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW). This study aimed to assess the quality of life among children survivors of land mines and ERW injuries in Iran in 2010.

A total of 69 adolescent survivors of land mine and ERW injuries at the time of study were enrolled. In this cross-sectional study, adolescents were called in from border provinces that included the most land mines and ERW contaminated areas in the country, i.e. Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Ilam and West Azerbaijan. Component scores were determined from responses to questions about physical and mental health on SF36.The validity of the Iranian version of questionnaire was 0.65-0.9. The questionnaire consisted of 36 questions measuring eight domains of health-related quality of life including physical functioning, physical role, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, and emotional and mental health role.

The mean age of participants was 16.68±1.18 years and the mean time since the injury was 7.85±3.1 years. Eighty-eight percent of the cases were boys. More than two third (69.6%) (n=48) of the victims were living in two provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah. About one-third (36.2%) (n=25) were studying at high school level. The children survivors had the highest score in physical functioning (50.5 ± 23.1) and the lowest in emotional role (8.69 ± 21.1). Overall, children survivors were suffering greatly in all different aspects of quality of life than the age-matched controls in all SF-36 eight domains (p≤0.01).

Children survivors of landmine and ERW injuries (at an age range of 14-19 years) due to Iraq-imposed war greatly suffered from a lower quality of life due to a combination of physical and mental factors affecting them.