Quality of life of the mothers of children with autism

Abstract

Background and Objective: Parents of children with autism have difficulty in their daily activities and social relationships and have a low quality of life. The negative effect of having a low intelligence or disabled child is more likely to cause tension and pressure on mother than the other family members. This study was conducted to determine the quality of life of mothers with autism children compared to mothers with normal children. Methods: This case-control study was performed on 36 mothers with autistic child and 114 mothers with healthy children in Gorgan (Iran) during 2015. Sampling was done randomly and the data gathering tool was SF-36 quality of life standard questionnaire. Results: The quality of life of mothers with autistic child had a significant reduction in comparison with the quality of life of mothers with healthy child (P<0.05). Also, items of quality of life including general health, social function, and role limitation due to psychological, emotional and physical functioning in the group of mothers with autistic children were significantly lower than mothers with healthy ones (P<0.05). Conclusion: Mothers with autistic children had low quality of life. Therefore, it is recommended to design suitable programs for improving the health status and quality of life as a priority of health care plans.

Keywords

• Autism
• Quality of life
• Mother
• Child