Caring for a Chronically Ill Child While Employed: A cross sectional study on the impact on the quality of life of Jordanian mothers

Abstract

1. Abstract Background: The quality of life of working women who cares for a child with chronic illness is of interest to families and health care professionals, as balancing work-life and routines of daily life gets complex when a child is chronically ill. The purpose of the study was to examine the QOL of working and non-working mothers caring for children with a chronic illness in Jordan. Results: Data from 164 mothers who cared for children with chronic illness were collected between November 2015 and April 2016 for this descriptive comparative cross sectional study using The World Health Organization Quality of Life – BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) tool and examined the physical, psychological, social relationships, and environment domains of their quality of life. The quality of life of working mothers was significantly lower than those of non-working mothers on all domains of WHOQOL-BREF. Mother’s working status, monthly income, evaluation of their own health explained 41% of the variance; adjusted R2 was 0.41, F= (22.17, 157), P <0.0001 Conclusions: Social, family and employer support may help mothers overcome the challenges of caring for a child with a chronic illness and maintain good QOL. Key words: Quality of life, mothers, chronic illness, children