Quality of life disparities among mothers of autistic children and mothers having normal children in Baghdad city-2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20252773Keywords:
Quality of life, WHOQOL-BREF, Autism spectrum disorder, BaghdadAbstract
Background: Raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is well known to have a long-term negative impact on parents' quality of life (QOL). However, there is limited evidence about the QOL for parents of autistic children in Iraq. Objectives were to assess the overall QOL, general health, and the QOL domains (physical, social, psychological, and environmental) among mothers of autistic children as compared to mothers of normal children.
Methods: Respondents in this comparative cross-sectional study were mothers of children with ASD and mothers of normal children who visited the consultation clinics of the pediatric welfare teaching hospital-medical City/Baghdad-Iraq and the consultation clinic of the national center for autism. A WHO-validated questionnaire was used.
Results: The study involved five hundred forty mothers from both groups (two hundred seventy for each one). Mothers of autistic children reported significantly poorer general QOL (35.9% vs. 24.8%, p=0.01) and general health (18.2% vs. 8.1%, p=0.001) compared to mothers of normal children. Substantial disparities and significant differences with poorer physical (24% vs. 15.92%, p=0.01) and psychological well-being (22.96% vs. 18.14%, p=0.03) were observed between the two groups.
Conclusions: Given the importance of QOL for mothers and its impact on their general health and family dynamics, it is essential to establish programs that promote better resolution in this risk group.
Metrics
References
Anderson V, Northam E, Wrennall J. Developmental Neuropsychology: A Clinical Approach. 2nd ed. Routledge; 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203799123
Bee Wah Y, Mohd Nasir NN, Hadrawi MF, Kamaruddin AA, Jannoo Z, Afthanorhan A. Effects of stress and self-efficacy on quality of life of mothers with autistic children: Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) approach. Belitung Nurs J. 2024;10(2):201-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33546/bnj.3096
Love C, Sominsky L, O’Hely M. Prenatal environmental risk factors for autism spectrum disorder and their potential mechanisms. BMC Med. 2024;22(1):393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03617-3
Salari N, Rasoulpoor S, Rasoulpoor S, Shohaimi S, Jafarpour S, Abdoli N, et al. The global prevalence of autism spectrum disorder: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis. Ital J Pediatr. 2022;48(1):112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-022-01310-w
Kilili-Lesta M, Giannakou K, Voniati L. The Childhood Prevalence, Gender Ratio, and Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Cyprus Using School Report: A Cross-Sectional Study. Adv Neurodev Disord. 2025;9:168-79. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-024-00412-2
Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S, Borodulin K, Buman MP, Cardon G, et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med. 2020;54(24):1451-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
Almeida-Brasil CC, Silveira MR, Silva KR, Lima MG, Faria CDCM, Cardoso CL, et al. Quality of life and associated characteristics: application of WHOQOL-BREF in the context of Primary Health Care. Cien Saude Colet. 2017;22(5):1705-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232017225.20362015
Turnage D, Conner N. Quality of life of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: An integrative literature review. J Spec Pediatr Nurs. 2022;27(4):e12391. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jspn.12391
Ilias K, Cornish K, Kummar AS, Park MS, Golden KJ. Parenting Stress and Resilience in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Southeast Asia: A Systematic Review. Front Psychol. 2018;9:280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00280
Novianti R, Suarman, Islami N. Parenting in Cultural Perspective: A Systematic Review of Paternal Role Across Cultures. J Ethnic Cultural Studies. 2023;10(1):22–44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1287
Papadopoulos D. Mothers' Experiences and Challenges Raising a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Study. Brain Sci. 2021;11(3):309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11030309
Fani O. Cross-cultural differences in autistic traits and the level of psychological distress [thesis]. University of Nottingham Malaysia. 2024.
Johnson N, Frenn M, Feetham S, Simpson P. Autism spectrum disorder: parenting stress, family functioning and health-related quality of life. Fam Syst Health. 2011;29(3):232-52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025341
Rosen NE, Lord C, Volkmar FR. The Diagnosis of Autism: From Kanner to DSM-III to DSM-5 and Beyond. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021;51(12):4253-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-04904-1
Flores-Rodríguez Y, Roldán Ceballos O, Albores-Gallo L. Assessing autism with DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Salud Mental. 2022;45(1):3-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17711/SM.0185-3325.2022.002
WHOQOL Group. Development of the World Health Organization WHOQOL-BREF quality of life assessment. Psychol Med. 1998;28(3):551-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291798006667
WHO. Division of Mental Health. WHOQOL-BREF: introduction, administration, scoring and generic version of the assessment: field trial version, 1996. Available at: iris.who.int/handle/10665/63529. Accessed on 01 July 2025.
Jihad LJ, Hussein WA, Hussein AA, Al-Attar Z. Quality of Life of Mothers Having Children with Chronic Renal Failure. Int J Med Sci Clin Res Rev. 2022;5(05):657-65.
Ahmed EA, Alkhaldi SM, Alduraidi H, Albsoul RA, Alhamdan MZ. Quality of Life of Mothers and Fathers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Jordan. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2023;19:e174501792304180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/17450179-v19-e230529-2022-40
Gilbertson EL, Krishnasamy R, Foote C, Kennard AL, Jardine MJ, Gray NA. Burden of Care and Quality of Life Among Caregivers for Adults Receiving Maintenance Dialysis: A Systematic Review. Am J Kidney Dis. 2019;73(3):332-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2018.09.006
Abid Ali W, Semahir S, Hameed, Zehara A, Shihab L. The lifestyle of families embracing an autistic person in Basrah city. World J Adv Res Rev. 2023;18:1385-92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2023.18.3.1242
Alkhateeb JM, Hadidi MS, Mounzer W. The Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder on Parents in Arab Countries: A Systematic Literature Review. Front Psychol. 2022;13:955442. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.955442
Dawood K. Assessment of Quality of Life for Parents of Autistic Child. Iraqi National J Nursing Specialties. 2016;29(1):105-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58897/injns.v29i1.247
Picardi A, Gigantesco A, Tarolla E, Stoppioni V, Cerbo R, Cremonte M, et al. Parental Burden and its Correlates in Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Multicentre Study with Two Comparison Groups. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. 2018;14:143-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017901814010143
Kiani A, Mohammadi G, Hasanzadeh M, Mohsen Loo F, Poor Rahmani P. Comparison of life satisfaction and hoping in mothers of children with special learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and normal. J Family Relations Studies. 2022;2(5):49-56.
Raju S, Hepsibah PEV, Niharika MK. Quality of life in parents of children with Autism spectrum disorder: Emphasizing challenges in the Indian context. Int J Dev Disabil. 2023;69(3):371-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20473869.2023.2173832
Ezzat O, Bayoumi M, Samarkandi O. Quality of Life and Subjective Burden on Family Caregiver of Children with Autism. Am J Nursing Sci. 2017;6:33-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20170601.15
Alenazi DS, Hammad SM, Mohamed AE. Effect of autism on parental quality of life in Arar city, Saudi Arabia. J Family Community Med. 2020;27(1):15-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.JFCM_157_19
Alhazmi A, Petersen R, Donald KA. Quality of life among parents of South African children with autism spectrum disorder. Acta Neuropsychiatr. 2018;30(4):226-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2018.5
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
