Relationship between quality of life of children with cerebral palsy and their mothers' depression and anxiety

Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between maternal anxiety and depression and parent-reported quality of life (QOL) of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: A cross-sectional study was done on 232 mothers of CP children aged 5–18 years. Children QOL and mothers' depression and anxiety were assessed using the Pediatric Inventory Parent Version (PedsQL-P), Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), respectively. Results: Different degrees of depression in 55.5% of mothers were noted, and 47.4% and 21.6% had moderate and severe anxiety. The mean value of PedsQL-P scores was 69.35 ± 18.18. A significant negative correlation was found between PedsQL-P and both BAS and BDI scores. Conclusion: CP children's mothers had high prevalence of depression and anxiety that had a negative impact on children QOL. The study calls for interventions to improve the mothers' psychiatric status.

Keywords

• Anxiety
• cerebral
• depression
• maternal
• palsy
• quality