Negative emotions and quality of life of parents with children diagnosed with anorectal malformations
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In brief
In brief
This study reveals that parents of children with anorectal malformations experience elevated anxiety and depression with reduced quality of life, particularly those in rural areas, with multiple children, or facing out-of-pocket medical costs. The findings emphasize the need for clinical attention to parental psychological support alongside surgical care.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the anxiety, depression, stress, and quality of life of parents with children diagnosed with anorectal malformations.
Methods
68 parents participated in the study and completed the unified Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF.
Results
Compared with the Chinese reference values, parents in our study had higher scores on anxiety and depression and lower scores on the psychological and environmental domain of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF. Parents who live in rural areas, pay for medical treatment out of pocket, and have multiple children are prone to feel anxious. Parents with multiple children also scored worse in the domains of physiology, psychology, social relationships, and general quality of life assessment. They scored significantly lower in the domains of psychology and social relationships when parents had a low education level. Parents of children who had undergone staged operations got lower scores on the general quality of life assessment.
Conclusions
Parents of children with anorectal malformations have varying degrees of psychological and emotional problems that require attention in the clinic.