T. Jorge Caldas R1, Ribeiro de Araújo Furtado Almeida AE2, Cardoso de Souza M3, Rodrigues dos Santos IC1
1Faculdade Santa Terezinha - CEST, São Luís, Brazil, 2Universidade Uniceuma, Occupational Therapy, São Luís, Brazil, 3Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Physiotherapy, Natal, Brazil
Background: Children with disabilities are those with chronic physical, intellectual or sensorial limitations. There is consensus that chronic diseases and conditions can not only affect the lives of patients, but also impact the family as a whole, especially the primary caregiver, changing their lifestyles, interpersonal relationships and finances.
Purpose: To evaluate the quality of life and the level of physical and emotional overload of caregivers of children with disabilities.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 37 caregivers in the study group and 45 subjects in the control group. The study group was composed of caregivers of children with disabilities and the control group was composed of caregivers of children without disabilities. The groups were matched by the variables of the caregiver, the age of the caregiver and the age of the child. Subjects were assessed using a socio-demographic data sheet, the SF-36 Health Survey and the Burden Interview.
Results: The study group presented a higher prevalence for caregivers of autistic patients (37.8%), whose mother was the main caregiver (73%). The study group presented a significantly worse score (25.8) regarding the level of overload than the control group (18.8) (p = 0.001). Regarding quality of life, there was no significant difference between groups for any of the domains studied.
Conclusion(s): Caregivers of children with disabilities present a greater level of physical and emotional overload than individuals who are caregivers of children without disabilities.
Implications: Caring for children with disabilities (autistic) may cause physical and emotional overload to their main caregivers (mothers), even though there is no significant change in their quality of life.
Keywords: Caregivers, Child with Disability, Quality of life
Funding acknowledgements: No external funding was provided.
Purpose: To evaluate the quality of life and the level of physical and emotional overload of caregivers of children with disabilities.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 37 caregivers in the study group and 45 subjects in the control group. The study group was composed of caregivers of children with disabilities and the control group was composed of caregivers of children without disabilities. The groups were matched by the variables of the caregiver, the age of the caregiver and the age of the child. Subjects were assessed using a socio-demographic data sheet, the SF-36 Health Survey and the Burden Interview.
Results: The study group presented a higher prevalence for caregivers of autistic patients (37.8%), whose mother was the main caregiver (73%). The study group presented a significantly worse score (25.8) regarding the level of overload than the control group (18.8) (p = 0.001). Regarding quality of life, there was no significant difference between groups for any of the domains studied.
Conclusion(s): Caregivers of children with disabilities present a greater level of physical and emotional overload than individuals who are caregivers of children without disabilities.
Implications: Caring for children with disabilities (autistic) may cause physical and emotional overload to their main caregivers (mothers), even though there is no significant change in their quality of life.
Keywords: Caregivers, Child with Disability, Quality of life
Funding acknowledgements: No external funding was provided.
Topic: Disability & rehabilitation; Mental health; Outcome measurement
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Faculdade Santa Terezinha - CEST
Ethics committee: Plataforma Brazil
Ethics number: 1,884,623
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
