Primary caregivers’ quality of life of children with cerebral palsy: literature review

Abstract

The birth of a child with Cerebral Palsy brings about changes in the family, as institution. Bearing this in mind, this study set out to analyze the quality of life of the primary caregivers of children with Cerebral Palsy and correlate this to the children's level of motor disability. It involved a review of the literature, using the LILACS, MEDLINE, SciELO and PubMed data bases and the descriptors quality of life, caregivers, mothers, parents and cerebral palsy. Scientific articles published between 1995 and 2009 were used. Of the 36 articles found, 7 formed part of this sample. The examined showed articles that at least some aspects of the primary caregivers' quality of life of children with Cerebral Palsy are generally worse than those of the primary caregivers of healthy children. However, there is no consensus among the authors who correlate the quality of life of caregivers with the motor disability level of children with Cerebral Palsy, but the studies analyzed were limited samples, as they were not made up of homogeneous groups, according to the Motor Function Classification System. We can conclude that health professionals must direct their attitudes to the caregivers of children with Cerebral Palsy.