Abstract:
Objectives: Having a disabled child can have profound effects on the living conditions and the
mental health of their family. Siblings of the children with disabilities have an important role
in supporting them. Their physical, mental and emotional health may be at risk, therefore, their
condition and living should be concerned and improved. The current study aimed to investigate
the quality of life of these siblings in comparison with the siblings of normal children.
Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study was carried out on 33 people who had one
sibling with severe developmental disabilities aged 13 to 18 years. The control group consisted
of 32 siblings of healthy children who were geographically and economically identical with the
test group. The quality of life was measured by the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory Version
4.0 (PedsQL4). The data were analyzed by the Independent t test and Mann-Whitney test.
Results: The Mean±SD age of the siblings with severe developmental disabilities was
15.64±2.06 years and the same score for the normal group was 15.30±2.23 years. The results
showed that the siblings of children with developmental disabilities significantly have a
poorer quality of life compared to the siblings of the healthy group (P<0.05). This significant
difference was also found in the academic, emotional and physical scores of the quality of life
scale, but no significant differences were found between the two groups in respect with the
social function (P>0.05).
Discussion: The current study showed that the quality of life of siblings of children with
developmental disabilities is decreased. These results suggest the necessity to provide
supportive and therapeutic programs for maintaining and improving the quality of life of these
siblings and the whole family.
Machine summary:
Research Paper: The Quality of Life of Siblings of Children With Severe Developmental Disabilities Children Mona Siminghalam1 , Karim Aubi1, Ali Hajian1, Hossein Alibakhshi1* 1.
3. 233 Funding: See Page 237 Copyright: The Author(s) A B S T R A C T Article info: Received: 17 Feb 2018 Accepted: 26 Jun 2016 Available Online: 01 Sep 2018 Keywords: Sibling, Developmental disability, Quality of Life Objectives: Having a disabled child can have profound effects on the living conditions and the mental health of their family.
The results showed that the siblings of children with developmental disabilities significantly have a poorer quality of life compared to the siblings of the healthy group (P<0.
Discussion: The current study showed that the quality of life of siblings of children with developmental disabilities is decreased.
com 233 September 2018, Volume 16, Number 3 Highlights I ranian Rehabilitation Journal ● Siblings of children with developmental disabilities significantly have a lower quality of life compared to the sib- lings of the healthy group.
Many studies show that families with a disabled child are sub- jected to mental problems such as depression and anxi- ety which can affect their quality of life [2-4, 8, 9].
Therefore, the present study aimed to evalu- ate the quality of life of healthy siblings of children with developmental disabilities.
However, the mean score difference in emotional, educational, physical, and the quality of life of healthy children siblings is signifi- cant (P>0.