Assessing the Quality of Life of Parents of Children With Disabilities Using WHOQoL BREF During COVID-19 Pandemic
Usman Alia, Vardah Bharuchia, N. Alia, S. Jafria✉
- aDepartment of Pediatric and Child Health, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
- ✉Corresponding author
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Abstract
Background: Caring for a child with disabilities is a challenging journey, as the parents must meet greater demands when compared with the parents of children without disabilities. Looking after a child with disablities requires additional financial, social, emotional, and physical resources. Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has made this even more challenging and impacted the quality of life of parents of children with disabilities. Methods: The study was an analytical cross-sectional design with two comparison groups: parents of children with developmental disabilities and parents of children without disabilities. The Urdu version of the WHO Quality of Life Measure Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF) was used to measure the quality of life (QoL) among parents. Sociodemographic data were also obtained from the parents. Results: Parents of children with disabilities had lower overall scores when different domains of QoL were considered (physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment) using WHOQoL-BREF. Statistically significant differences were observed in the physical and environmental domains of parental QoL.
TL;DRParents of children with disabilities had lower overall scores when different domains of QoL were considered (physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment) using the Urdu version of the WHO Quality of Life Measure Abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF). (Semantic Scholar)