Abstract
Parents of children with neurological disorders face several socio-economic challenges in nurturing them. Experiences of parents in the study area have not been explored. This descriptive cross-sectional study was designed to investigate socio-economic challenges faced by parents of children with neurological dysfunctions. Paediatric Neurology Outpatient Clinic, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Shika, Zaria, Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria, a tertiary health institution was used. A convenience sample of 60 parents was obtained, from whom data were collected through an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and in-depth interviews on nine of the parents. Sixty-one children were affected (a parent had 2). Cerebral palsy (50.8%) and seizure disorders (39.4%) were the commonest disorders found. A mean age of 5 years was identified. Male (55%) and the first-born children (44.3%) were more affected. Perceived causes identified were infection/childhood disease (65%), asphyxia (23.3%), and prolonged labour (18.3%). The major socio-economic challenges were poor social life and hampered economic status. Parents were themselves deprived of their normal social lives. Parents of children with neurologic problems were found to have faced a lot of socio-economic challenges that significantly affects the lives of both the affected children and the other siblings. Existing parental poor socio-economic status complicates these challenges. Their economic status and pursuance of family income are hampered, coupled with the high cost of managing the affected children. Social support groups for parents and the affected children should be encouraged by professional bodies, government and non-governmental organizations to enhance social relationships, while ensuring health insurance coverage for these children to reduce economic burden on their parents and enhance maintenance of the healthy status of the other children. Key words: Socio- economic challenges, parental coping, neurological deficit, children.
Highlights
Most healthy children enjoy normal growth with little need for specialized health care services
This study demonstrated a number of social, economic and psychological burdens of having children with cerebral palsy in the African continent
This study has shown that parents of children with neurologic problems face many socio-economic challenges
Summary
Most healthy children enjoy normal growth with little need for specialized health care services. Common neurological disorders in children include: head injuries, trauma to spinal cord, exposure to toxic chemicals and various forms of viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections (Batul, 2011; Raiford, 2013) These disorders commonly cause forms of cerebral palsy, epilepsies and epilepsy syndromes, hydrocephalus, microcephaly, attention deficit, hyperactivity, meningo-encephalitis and autism. Neurological disorders lead to learning disability and prolonged dependency (Idro et al, 2010); posing enormous psychosocial and socio-economic challenges to parents. This is true of those parents who donot have a good knowledge of the condition and possible ways of addressing the problems of the affected children. Both quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated to meet research objectives
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