Investigation of Parents' Anxiety Level and Health Related Quality of Life in Different Types of Physical Disabilities

Disability is a life-long condition that involves different care needs and includes many psychosocial problems. Having a disabled child is for all family members; creates stress. In the studies, it was found that mothers with disabled children were more stressed and their anxiety levels were higher. There are many disabled people in Turkey and researches related to the caregiver, although there is not enough research on these people. Since activity limitations, participation restrictions and social and physical barriers are different in each disability group, caregivers' influences may also be different. Comparing the quality of life of caregivers of different disability groups and guiding the family in line with the results obtained is important for public health. It is known that the mothers of children with physical disabilities have more symptoms of depression depending on the functional levels of the children. The severity of depression was also found to be higher in people with physical disabilities than other disability groups. In addition, it has been shown that there is a positive relationship between the time spent on care of the child and the level of strain of caregivers. As the time spent on care may vary in different types of disability, families' levels of distress and anxiety may also be different. This is the rehabilitation services; In addition to the physiotherapy applied to physically disabled individuals, it is thought that the social needs of caregivers should be determined and met.In the literature, there are no studies comparing the effects of disease, anxiety levels and quality of life of parents with Muscular Dystrophy (MD), Spina Bifida (SB), Cerebral Palsy (SP) and Down Syndrome (DS). This study was planned to investigate the quality of life, anxiety level, family effects and social effects of the mothers with different physical disabilities.