Abstract

The study was aimed at identifying the burden of care on parents of children with neurological deficits. Design: A descriptive cross- sectional study. Setting: Paediatric Neurology Outpatient Clinic, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Shika-Zaria, Kaduna State, Northern Nigerian. Methodology: A non-probability, availability sampling method was used to enrol 60 parents who participated in the study. Data were collected through an interviewer administered close-ended questionnaire and in-depth interview of 9 parents out of the 60 who participated in the study. Results: Sixty-one children were involved in the study. Cerebral palsy (50.8%) and seizure disorders (39.4%) were the commonest deficits found. The mean age of 5years, male (55.7%) and females were 44.3%. The burden of care of affected children was mainly shouldered by mothers; feeding, bathing, carrying, drug administration etc. No governmental or nongovernmental assistance programmes were identified. Conclusions: Meeting the physical needs/activities of daily living of children with neurological deficits places a high burden on the shoulders of their parents. Lack of or in accessible rehabilitation and education facilities contributes immensely to the burden. Multi-sectoral (health personnel, educationist and physiotherapist) approach in management is required with great support from government and non-government organisations. Parents should be educated on the importance of supervised antenatal care, deliveries and postnatal care, including routine childhood immunizations.

Keywords:

Activities of daily living, domestic care , neurological deficit children, parental care,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.