Quality of Life and It's Influencing Factors for Caregivers of Children with Disabilities / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the quality of life of caregivers of children with disabilities and its influencing factors. Methods:From December, 2019 to January, 2020, and August to September, 2020, a total of 496 family caregivers of children with disabilities were surveyed in Shanghai. The 12-item Short-form Health Survey (SF-12) was used to measure the quality of life of 496 caregivers, and multiple linear regression was performed to analyze the related factors. Results:The score of physical component summary (PCS) of caregivers was (51.67±8.11), and the score of mental component summary (MCS) was (42.10±12.66). The scores of PCS were lower in caregivers with children aged 6 to 18 years (B = -1.783, 95%CI -3.279 to -0.287, P = 0.020), children with emotional instability (B = 2.719, 95%CI 1.254 to 4.184, P < 0.001), female caregivers (B = -3.765, 95%CI -6.578 to -0.953, P = 0.009), and caregivers who were relatively dissatisfied with the policy (B = 1.973, 95%CI 0.367 to 3.578, P = 0.016); and were higher in caregivers with children with speech disabilities (B = 3.463, 95%CI 0.053 to 6.873, P = 0.047). The types of disabilities of children (Bhearing = 9.465, 95%CI 5.107 to 13.823, P < 0.001; Bundetermined = 5.999, 95%CI 1.558 to 10.441, P = 0.008), playmates of children (B = 2.626, 95%CI 0.352 to 4.901, P = 0.024), education level of caregivers (Bhigh middle school = -4.701, 95%CI -8.028 to -1.374, P = 0.006; Bhigh school = -3.610, 95%CI -6.604 to -0.615, P = 0.018), family size (B = 2.616, 95%CI 0.479 to 4.753, P = 0.017) and per capita monthly income (B < 5000 Yuan= -6.572, 95%CI -9.136 to -4.008, P < 0.001; B5000 to < 10000 Yuan = -4.932, 95%CI -7.544 to -2.319, P < 0.001) were associated with the scores of MCS. Conclusion:The quality of life, especially the mental health, of caregivers of children with disabilities is poor. The influencing factors cover multiple dimensions such as caregivers, children, family and social environment.