The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2011 , Vol 53 , Num 5
Parents’ Perception of the Quality of Life of Children with Intellectual Disabilities
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1Göztepe Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, and 2Dr. Sami Ulus
Children’s Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, and 3Kocaeli University Faculty of Medicine,
Kocaeli, Turkey
There has been limited research conducted on the quality of life (QoL)
of children with intellectual disabilities (IDs). We investigated the QoL in
children aged 5-18 years with ID and compared the results with healthy
children of the same age in this study. The results indicated that the scores
of students with ID were lower on all scales and also that children with
ID should be supported in all QoL dimensions (physical, social, emotional,
and school functioning). Associations between QoL and factors such as the
educational level of the mothers, income level of the family, age at diagnosis,
age group, and level of ID were examined in the ID group. A diagnosis of
ID before the age of 2 was found to have a statistically significant positive
effect on QoL scores. Our findings highlight that early diagnosis is the most
important measure to improve the QoL of people with ID.
Keywords :
intellectual disability, children, quality of life.