Assessment of depression and quality of life in mothers of children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Objective: The assessment of depression and quality of life (QoL) in mothers of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and a comparison to mothers of healthy children. Patients and Methods: Forty-nine children with CP and their mothers and 30 mothers with healthy children were included. The type of CP in children and their functional levels were identified with the Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS). The depression status of mothers was evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and quality of life (QoL) was evaluated with the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). Results: The mean age of children with CP was 66.20 ±43.73 months. 28 children were diplegic, 1 was hemiplegic and 20 were quadriplegic. Most of the children were level 2 (20) and 3 (17) according to the GMFCS. The mean age of the mothers of the patient group were found as 35.75 ±7.44, and the mean age of the control group mothers was 33.80 ±7.21. BDI and NHP scores and intermarriage rate and decrease in the level of income were found significantly higher in patient group (p<0.05). There were no significant correlation between GMFCS, type of CP and BDI, NHP scores in mothers. Conclusion: Impaired QoL and depression levels were found higher in mothers of children with CP. This process is not influenced by the child's functional level and the type of CP.