Psychosocial effect and economic burden on parents of children with locomotor disability

Indian J Pediatr. 2010 May;77(5):529-33. doi: 10.1007/s12098-010-0064-7. Epub 2010 Apr 17.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the social and financial burden of parents of children with locomotor disability.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Institute for Physically Handicapped (IPH), Delhi, where parents of 100 locomotor disabled children of age group 6 to 15 years were interviewed to estimate the socioeconomic burden of caregiving their children.

Results: The study observed that the parents of the disabled children were severely burdened in terms of financial burden and mental health.

Conclusions: There is an urgent need for support activities for such families at a national level in order to curb the huge economic and social burden of care-giving. Counselling should be an integral part of rehabilitation for such families.

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living
  • Adolescent
  • Chi-Square Distribution
  • Child
  • Cost of Illness*
  • Counseling
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Disabled Children / psychology*
  • Family Health
  • Female
  • Humans
  • India
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Parent-Child Relations*
  • Parents / psychology*
  • Socioeconomic Factors