Quality of life of mothers having children with Down syndrome

Background: A mother's Quality of life (QoL) is essential not only for her own well-being but also for providing better care to her child. Objective: To assess the QoL of mothers having children with Down syndrome. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in ten special needs schools catering to intellectual disabilities from September 2023 to March 2024 after Institutional ethical approval (IRB Ref letter # M-22/82/-CM). The study population was mothers of children with Down syndrome. A sample size of 37 was calculated on the WHO sample size calculator, doubled to 74, and the questionnaire was administered to 100 mothers. We included mothers of children diagnosed with DS, willing biological mothers who have one child with Down syndrome, and all other normal children. Whereas, single mothers, mothers having a child with Down syndrome who also suffered from another dual diagnosis, and mothers having another chronically sick or disabled child were excluded. A convenient sampling technique was applied. Data was collected using a standardized, validated WHOQOL-BREF instrument. Results: The total QoL mean score for mothers was 84.45±14.33. Higher maternal education (p=0.007) and having a child older than 10 years (p<0.001) were significantly associated with increased mean QoL scores. Gender of the child and household income showed no statistically significant (p>0.05) associations. Conclusion: Mothers with a higher education level, a child with Down syndrome of >10 years, and a better family socio-economic status had a higher quality of Life.