Chronic childhood illness affects around one in every 4 kids causing limitations in their quality of life. Psychological impact of these limitations extends to caregivers and is seen as a major cause of higher incidence of psychiatric illnesses among them. Mothers of children with chronic illnesses are found to suffer the most and, as suggested by literature, have higher incidence of major depressive disorder. This higher incidence of depression reflects on the child with greater burden, as children of parents with depression are known to adhere less to therapy and suffer worse quality of life. This study aims to assess the prevalence of depression among mothers of children with chronic illness following in King Fahad University Hospital (KFHU), Khobar.
This study was conducted through a cross sectional survey for mothers whose children under the age of 16 years, with chronic illness or disability and who are receiving follow-up in Pediatrics Department in King Fahad University Hospital in Khobar. Mothers completed a validated Arabic translation of Beck’s Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II).
Surveyed mothers (n=124) scored significantly high rate of depression. All were found to have depressive symptoms, with mean BDI-II score of 16.9, that is higher than the mean BDI-II scores amongst similar studies. Moderate-to-severe depression was found in 40% of mothers. Mothers of infants and those with lower educationl level had significantly worse depression scores (P-value 0.01 and 0.04 respectively).
Results indicate concerning data that is suggestive of great psychological burden on mothers of chronically ill children in our society creating higher responsibility on health systems.
