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The impact of raising a child with a developmental or physical health condition in Ethiopia
Ist Teil von
Research in developmental disabilities, 2024-05, Vol.148, p.104716-104716, Article 104716
Ort / Verlag
United States: Elsevier Ltd
Erscheinungsjahr
2024
Quelle
Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals
Beschreibungen/Notizen
Raising a child with a developmental disability or physical health condition can have a major impact on the lives of their families, especially in low-income countries. We explored the impact on such families in Ethiopia.
A total of 241 child-caregiver dyads were recruited from two public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Of these, 139 children were diagnosed with a developmental disability (e.g. autism, intellectual disability) and 102 children with a physical health condition (e.g. malnutrition, severe HIV infection). The family quality of life was assessed using caregiver reports on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL-FIM™). The disability weight score, which is a Global Burden of Disease measure to quantify health loss, was estimated for each child.
Families with a child with a developmental disability reported lower quality of life than families caring for a child with a physical health condition (p < .001). Mean disability weight scores in children with a developmental disability were higher than in children with a physical health condition (p < .001), indicating more severe health loss. Disability weight scores were negatively associated with the family quality of life in the whole group (B=−16.8, SE=7.5, p = .026), but not in the stratified analyses.
Caring for a child with a developmental disability in Ethiopia is associated with a substantial reduction in the family quality of life. Scaling up support for these children in resource-limited contexts should be prioritized.
●Ethiopian carers of children with developmental disabilities have low quality of life.●Their quality of life is lower than carers of children with physical health problems.●Child health loss is associated with a lower family quality of life.●Scaling-up of support for these families deserves prioritization.