title: Determinants of Quality of Life in the Caregivers of Iranian War Survivors with Bilateral Lower-Limb Amputation after More than Two Decades.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Providing care to a disable relative at home exposes the caregiver to a potentially higher risk of physical and mental problems. We measured health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its determinants among the caregivers of the Iranian survivors of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) with bilateral lower-limb amputation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from 464 individuals comprising war-related bilateral lower-limb amputees (n=232) and their caregivers (n=232) in January 2015 in Shiraz, Iran. The 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire was used to evaluate the caregivers' QOL. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the most significant contributing factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the caregivers and the amputees was 39.4±6.2 and 42.5±6.2 years, respectively. The mean duration of disability was 22.8±3.9 years in the amputees. Most of the caregivers were reported to be in their first marriage. The highest and lowest mean scores of the SF-36 domains in the sample population were observed for physical function (76.65±21.97) and bodily pain (53.54±24.95). QOL in the caregivers was significantly lower than that in a sample of the general Iranian female population (P<0.05). History of hospitalization during the preceding year of the study (OR: 2.23, 95% CI: 1.08 to 4.57, P=0.02) and mental health problems (OR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.02 to 3.15, P=0.04) in the amputees constituted the most important predicting factors in the caregivers' QOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The caregivers of the bilateral lower-limb amputees in the current study suffered from a poor QOL. Hospitalization and mental problems were the most significant contributing factors vis-à-vis the caregivers' HRQOL. Health care and services should, therefore, be provided to both amputees and their caregivers.
authors.affiliation: Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ganjparvar
authors.affiliation: Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Batool
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mousavi
authors.affiliation: Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masumi
authors.affiliation: Janbazan Medical and Engineering Research Center, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soroush
authors.affiliation: Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montazeri
keywords: Amputation; Caregivers; Iran; War survivors