title: Assessment of quality of life of parents of children with osteogenesis imperfecta.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the work was an objective assessment of the quality of life of parents of children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and of its determinant factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  The survey answers of 25 parents were analyzed and contained demographic parameters, socioeconomic status information, quality of life of responses and type of support they have been receiving. In order to assess the effects of this children's disease on the quality of life of the parents, families were divided into two groups depending on the OI severity: group M--mild (type I and IV OI), group S--severe (type III OI). The objective of the work was carried out based on the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire and measures of family status: education degree based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), a subjective assessment of the family's wealth (Perceived Family Wealth, PFW), and the family's financial resources (Family Affluence Scale, FAS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  56% of respondents assessed their global quality of life (Quality of Life, QL) as good, whereas 8% answered poor. Perception of general health status was similar. Life domains assessed in the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire received the following mean values on a scale from 4 to 20 points: physical--12.2 +/- 1.2, psychological--15.04 +/- 2.2, environmental--13.32 +/- 2, social relationships--14.28 +/- 1.5. In the severe OI group, the environmental domain was assessed as worse than in the mild OI group and this assessment was statistically significant, despite the fact that the group of families with severe cases of OI received more support from the appropriate institutions. Indicators of socioeconomic status did not affect the respondents' assessment of their global quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the tested group of families, the child's disease did not affect either the global quality of life assessment or health of the respondents or their quality of life in terms of physical and mental status and social relationships. The parents of children with severe OI assessed the life domain associated with the environment they live in as worse than the parents of children with mild OI. The global quality of life assessment of the respondents did not depend on the family's socioeconomic status and on the help they have been receiving with regard to care for the child.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics Propedeutics and Bone Metabolic Diseases, Medical University of Lodz, University Clinical Hospital No. 4, Lodz, Poland. annaparis28@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szczepaniak-Kubat
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kurnatowska
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jakubowska-Pietkiewicz
authors.forename: Danuta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chlebna-Sokół
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017281:Cost of Illness; D004522:Educational Status; D005192:Family Health; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D010013:Osteogenesis Imperfecta / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D011044:Poland; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires