Depression and anxiety among parents of phenylketonuria children

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the existence of depression and/or anxiety with underlying risk factors among parents of children with classical phenylketonuria (PKU). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Division of Pediatric Metabolism, Ankara Children’s Hospital, Dokuz Eylul University, Kırıkkale University, and Erzurum Local Research Hospital, Turkey, between January and July 2014. Parents of 61 patients and 36 healthy controls completed the self-report questionnaires. We used Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess the parental depression and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory S-T (STAI S-T) to assess parental anxiety. RESULTS: Depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in the case group (BDI 12.3±9.1; STAI-S: 38.2±9.6; STAI-T: 43.2±6.9) than controls (BDI: 5.4±4.1 p=0.000; STAI-S: 31.8±7.6 p=0.001; STAI-T: 37.0±7.2 p=0.000). Mothers of the patients had higher scores than the other parental groups (BDI: p=0.000, STAI-S: p=0.001 and STAI-T: p=0.000). Logistic regression analysis showed that low educational level of the parent was the only independent factor for depression (OR 9.96, 95% CI: 1.89-52.35, p=0.007) and state anxiety (OR: 6.99, 95% CI: 1.22-40.48, p=0.030) in the case group. CONCLUSION: A subset of parents with PKU patients have an anxiety or depressive disorder. Supportive services dealing with the parents of chronically ill children such as PKU are needed in order to reduce the level of anxiety.