Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of mental health problems and quality of life among Palestinian disable children. The sample consisted of 391 disable Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip which was selected randomly from the data base of two NGOs working with such group of children. The age of children ranged from 6 - 18 years with mean age (11.73). Instruments: The children and adolescents demographic data were collected by questionnaire include sex, age, class, and place of residence, Gaza Child Health Study Scales (parents and children forms), and The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory generic core (version 4.0) scale. The results showed that children reported mean conduct disorder was 1.33; oppositional disorder was 5; mean overanxious was 6.75; separation anxiety mean was 6.36; and depression was 7.57. There were statistically significant differences toward boys in depression. According to parents, mean conduct disorder mean was 1.94; mean oppositional disorder was 6.09; mean overanxious was 7.47; separation anxiety mean was 6.48; and mean depression was 9.6. The study showed that mean depression in boys was 10.4 compared to 8.9 in girls. There were statistically significant differences toward boys in depression. Parents of children with physical disabilities reported more overanxious problems in their children compared to other parents with other types of disabilities (vision, mental, and multiple). Also, parents of children with physical disability had more separation anxiety than other groups (mental and multiple disabilities). Quality of life of children was scored by children themselves; mean emotional functioning was 8.24; mean social functioning was 6.65; school functioning mean was 9.17; and cognitive functioning was 8.57. The study showed that mental health problems rated by children such as conduct disorder was positively correlated with emotional and cognitive functioning; oppositional disorder was correlated with emotional, social, and cognitive function; overanxious disorder was correlated emotional, school, and cognitive functioning; separation anxiety was correlated emotional functioning; and depression was correlated emotional, social, and cognitive functioning.
Highlights
Disability and incidence of disability in Arab countries are challenging subjects for some factors; few indexed publications, limited statistics; reliability is questionable, sociability in definitions and different methodologies.According to the WHO, disability is “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restriction
According to reports in the literature, children with cerebral palsy report lower quality of life scores than healthy children across most dimensions, and these scores do not appear to improve over time [24]
The sample chosen was a stratified random sample based on the records of the database of both the National Society for Rehabilitation (NSR) and Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), whereas the Gaza Strip was divided into five governorates, selected children and adolescents were from the active cases and inactive cases in the period 2005-2009
Summary
Disability and incidence of disability in Arab countries are challenging subjects for some factors; few indexed publications, limited statistics; reliability is questionable, sociability in definitions and different methodologies.According to the WHO, disability is “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restriction. Persons living with some form of disability account for about 15% of the world population [4]. The records of National Society for Rehabilitation and Palestinian Medical Relief Society in Gaza Strip showed that 35,866 persons were identified with one disability at least according to WHO criteria, which represented 2.5% of total population of the Gaza Strip. According to place of residence, 13.8% live in North Gaza; 28.2% live in Gaza; 23.4% live in Middle zone; 24.6% live in Khan Younis area; and 10% live in Rafah. Of this number, 57.3% were males and 42.7% were females. The data showed that the most common type of disability was vision 33.24%, followed by physical disability 31.78%, speech impairment 4.69%, learning impairment 5.48%, mental problems 2.36%, hearing disability 7.78%, multiple disabilities 14.23%, and other disabilities 0.44% [5]
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