Health-Related Quality of Life of Nigerian Children with Cerebral Palsy

<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To assess the impact of cerebral palsy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of Nigerian children.</p><p><strong>Method</strong>: This is a cross-sectional survey. The study involved 54 children (33 males and 21 females), bet...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: A E Ogunrinu, Oluwaseyi Abigail Osho, Caleb Ademola Gbiri, Bosede Abidemi Tella
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Gondar 2011-10-01
Series:Disability, CBR and Inclusive Development
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dcidj.org/article/view/24
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To assess the impact of cerebral palsy on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of Nigerian children.</p><p><strong>Method</strong>: This is a cross-sectional survey. The study involved 54 children (33 males and 21 females), between 1 and 12 years of age, with cerebral palsy. They were consecutively recruited from two tertiary health institutions in Lagos, Nigeria.<strong> </strong></p><p>The socio-demographic details of the participants were obtained through interviews. Their HRQoL was assessed using the Child Health Questionnaire-Parent Form-28 (CHQ-PF 28). The questionnaire was completed by their parents, guardians or primary care-givers. Severity of motor disability was assessed and classified using the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Data were summarised using descriptive statistics. Chi-square was used to find the association between each of the selected socio-demographic variables and motor disability, and HRQoL.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Thirty-eight children (70.3%) were between 1 and 6 years of age, and 16 (29.7%) were between 7 and 12 years. The participants’ overall scores and scores on each domain of CHQ-PF 28 were very low. Majority (69.5%) were in GMFCS classification-level 1, 7 (13.0%) were in level 2, 12 (22.2%) were in level 3, 14 (25.9%) were in level 4, and 16 (29.6%) were in level 5. Age had significant effect (CI = 95%) on HRQoL of children with cerebral palsy. Severity of disability had negative impact (CI = 95%) on HRQoL of children with cerebral palsy.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The health-related quality of life of Nigerian children with cerebral palsy is low, and is negatively affected by age and severity of disability.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Key words: </strong><em>Quality of life, cerebral palsy, children, Nigeria</em></p><p>doi 10.5463/DCID.v22i2.24</p>
ISSN:2211-5242