Quality of Life and the Associated Psychological Factors in Caregivers of Children with PKU

OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to investigate the association of psychological factors and life stressors with quality of life in caregivers of children with PKU. METHODS: Participants were caregivers of children with PKU who were referred to a child and adolescent consultation-liaison psychiatry clinic for a clinical follow up. Their demographic characteristics were recorded at first. WHOQOL-BREF and Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (DASS) were used to assess quality of life, depression, anxiety and stress in participants. Data analysis was performed using SPSS-11.5 statistical software. RESULTS: A total number of 49 caregivers were enrolled for the study. The mean age of participants and their children were 35.63±8.82, and 9.84±6.62 respectively. Of the participants, 59.2% were mothers and 40.8% were fathers. Of the children, 51% were girls and 49% were boys. According to the results, 57.1, 50.1 and 57.1 percent of the participants had mild to severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress scores respectively. The most associated factors with quality of life were as follows: caregivers’ occupation; anxiety; and depression mean scores. CONCLUSION: Results of the current study showed that caregivers of children with PKU have lower levels of quality of life in comparison with the general population; and the most correlated factors with quality of life were the caregivers’ occupation (especially unemployment), and high levels of depression and anxiety.