INTRODUCTION: The psychological burden, or the Burden of Care, of caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disorders-especially attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)has been the subject of many studies worldwide. From the Arab/Islamic countries there is a dearth of research on the burden of care. The present study attempts to rectify the omission by assessing the prevalence of the burden of care among caregivers of children with ADHD in Oman. OBJECTIVES: The study assesses the prevalence of burden of care among caregivers of children who had been diagnosed with ADHD seeking consultation at a tertiary care unit in Oman. Related aim is to explore the predictors of the burden of care, subtypes of ADHD and socio-demographic factors. METHODS: Across-sectional correlative study was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Oman that provides child and adolescent mental health services. Arabic-version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) was administered to 117 caregivers of drug-naive children with ADHD attending a tertiary care hospital in Oman with child and adolescent mental health services. Sociodemographic background and clinical data were gathered from medical records as well as directly from the attending caregivers. The ADHD symptoms were grouped as hyperactive, inattentive or mixed. RESULTS: The prevalence of the burden of care was estimated to be 34%. Binary regression analysis indicated that factors such as income levels of the caregiver as well as the child's ADHD being of "mixed" type have significant impact on the burden of care. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the prevalence of the burden of care among the caregivers of ADHD children in Oman is comparable to that in the other regions of the world. Our results showed lower income sole caregiver and the type of ADHD to be significant predictors of burden of care. As the caregivers' psychological stress impact the wellbeing of the family, and the society as a whole, the issue of the burden of care needs to be studied further detail and interventions evolved.
BACKGROUND: Reports from different parts of the world suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant lockdown and social distancing measures have heralded unprecedented mental health challenges among children and adolescents. To date, there is a dearth of studies emerging from the Arabian Gulf, where the majority of its population are children and adolescents. The study aims to examine the prevalence of anxiety-related disorders and their covariates among children and adolescents in an Arabian Gulf country, Oman. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analytic study carried out over two weeks (1st to 15th of August 2020) during the COVID-19 pandemic across Oman. Parents were asked to complete the online survey, which consisted of the parent version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED-41) scale and questions regarding basic socio-demographic information. Logistic regression was used to identify the contributing variables associated with anxiety-related disorders. RESULTS: A total of 790 children, 33.3% (n=263) fulfilled the criteria for anxiety-related disorders. Logistic regression analysis suggested that anxiety-related disorders in children were significantly associated with three demographic variables. The model shows that children with divorced or separated parents were 1.9 times more likely to have anxiety-related disorders than children of married couples (OR=1.93, p=0.035). Children living in families with an income below USD 1,000/month, were 1.8 times more likely to have anxiety-related disorders than a family with an income of USD 4,000/month (OR=1.833, p=0.018). Children in grades 3-6 were 1.8 times more likely to have anxiety-related disorders than those in grades 1-2 (OR=1.79, p=0.024). CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety-related disorders are common among Arabic-speaking Omani children and adolescents. They are more likely to be reported in middle scholastic grade levels and children from families with marital discord and low socioeconomic status. It is not clear whether the presently observed rates of anxiety exceed the prevalence that would have been observed pre-COVID-19 era. More studies are therefore warranted using children and adolescents' self-reported scales.
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