Correlations between functional performance, health-related quality of life, and parental impact on children with developmental delays

Objective: To examine the correlation of function, quality of life (QOL), and parental impact on developmental delayed children. Methods: Sixty parents of children with developmental delays (M:F=36:24, mean age 4 years and 2 months) and 56 parents of age-sex matched typical development children were included. Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument and Child Health Questionnaire for children, World Health Organization-QOL, Impact on Family Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for parents were assessed. Results: Functional performance was correlated with physical component of QOL in children (correlation coefficients: 0.7-0.9; p<0.01), age of children (0.3-0.4; p<0.05) and parents (0.3; p<0.05), maternal employment (0.3-0.4; p<0.05), parental QOL (0.3-0.4; p<0.01), family impact (-0.3 to-0.5; p<0.01), and parental emotion (-0.3 to-0.4; p<0.05). Conclusions: Children who exhibited higher levels of function had higher QOL, as did their parents, and less parental impact.