The impact of raising a child with a developmental or physical health condition in Ethiopia

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Research in developmental disabilities Vol. 148; p. 104716
Main Authors:	de Leeuw, Anne, Ester, Wietske A., Kinfe, Mersha, Girma, Fikirte, Abdurahman, Rehana, Zerihun, Tigist, Teklehaimanot, Atsede, Hanlon, Charlotte, Hoek, Hans W., Hoekstra, Rosa A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2024 Pergamon Press
Subjects:	Africa Autism Autistic Disorder Child Developing countries Ethiopia Family functioning and support HIV Infections Humans Malnutrition Neurodevelopmental disorders Quality of Life Ethiopia Autism B HRQL Family functioning and support Africa Developing countries FIM Neurodevelopmental disorders PedsQL Quality of life
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Summary:	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.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0891-4222 1873-3379 1873-3379
DOI:	10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104716