Quality of live among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in Tunisia.

BACKGROUND: Studies on parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders' (ASD) quality of life (QOL) agree on its alteration and seek to identify risk factors in order to target interventions. AIMS: To study the QOL of a Tunisian population of parents of children with ASD and to look for risk factors specific to the Tunisian population. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of 50 parents of 50 children who met the DSM V criteria for autism spectrum disorder. A pre-established record was used to collect the biographical and clinical data. The severity of autism was determined using CARS. The SF-36, validated in Tunisia, made it possible to assess the QOL of the parents. RESULTS: The proportion of parents with impaired QOL was 64%. The average mental score was lower than the average physical summary score. Aggressiveness was the predominant factor that significantly altered parents' QOL at the total SF-36 score (p=0,03) and 5-dimensional levels (0.006