Assessment of Quality of Life in Parents of Childrenwith Cerebral Palsy.

, Cho, Yun Kyoung; , Kim, Eun Jin; , Park, Jung Wook; , Cho, Kyung Eun; , Lee, Sung Hoon; , Kang, Eun Young; , Lee, So Young; , Choi, So Ra; , Lee, Chul Gab

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine 2008;32(6):682-688.

Cho, Yun Kyoung , Kim, Eun Jin , Park, Jung Wook , Cho, Kyung Eun , Lee, Sung Hoon , Kang, Eun Young , Lee, So Young , Choi, So Ra , Lee, Chul Gab

¹Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kwangju Christian Hospital, Korea. yhaehwan@hanmail.net
²Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kwangju Heemang Hospital, Korea.
³Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Chosun University Hospital, Chosun University College of Medicine, Korea.

뇌성마비 아동 보호자들의 삶의 질 평가

조윤경, 김은진, 박정욱, 조경은, 이성훈, 강은영, 이소영¹, 최소라², 이철갑²

광주기독병원 재활의학과, ¹광주희망병원 재활의학과, ²조선대학교 의과대학 조선대학교병원 산업의학교실

Abstract

Objective
To evaluate the quality of life and psychologic status in parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP).
Method
We studied 94 parents of children with cerebral palsy (case) and 60 parents of normal children (control). The functional level of CP was determined based on the gross motor functional classification system (GMFCS), and type of CP was classified by clinical features. We collected the data through questionnaires obtained from the parents, which consisted of Short Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Family APGAR score. The data were statistically analyzed.
Results
The mean scores of SF-36 in parents of CP children was significantly lower than controls (60.09＜67.38, p＜ 0.001). BDI (p＜0.001) and BAI (p=0.002) scores of parents of CP children were significantly higher than control group, and familial APGAR score was lowered in the CP group compared to the control group. There were no differences in the scores of SF-36 in parents according to the severity of CP (p=0.844).
Conclusion
The quality of life of parents of children with CP was significantly lower than that of control parents. Also psychologic status and familial function were poorer in parents of CP. It is necessary to evaluate and support for parent's psychologic status and quality of life in the comprehensive rehabilitation of CP. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2008; 32: 682-688)

Key Words: Parents, Cerebral palsy, Quality of life, Psychologic status, Family