Quality of live among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in Tunisia.

BACKGROUND: Studies on parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders' (ASD) quality of life (QOL) agree on its alteration and seek to identify risk factors in order to target interventions.

AIMS: To study the QOL of a Tunisian population of parents of children with ASD and to look for risk factors specific to the Tunisian population.

METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of 50 parents of 50 children who met the DSM V criteria for autism spectrum disorder. A pre-established record was used to collect the biographical and clinical data. The severity of autism was determined using CARS. The SF-36, validated in Tunisia, made it possible to assess the QOL of the parents.

RESULTS: The proportion of parents with impaired QOL was 64%. The average mental score was lower than the average physical summary score. Aggressiveness was the predominant factor that significantly altered parents' QOL at the total SF-36 score (p=0,03) and 5-dimensional levels (0.006 <p <0.05), followed by the severity of autism that significantly altered QOL at the total SF-36 score (p=0.047) and  the 2-dimensional level (0.001 < p < 0.005), the position of the child with autism as a cadet (p = 0.03), the high number of siblings (p = 0.01), and conjugal conflicts (p = 0.02). The factors significantly associated with better QOL were the acquisition of a sphincter autonomy (0.02 <p <0.025) and a communicative language (0.023 <p <0.038), the older age of the child at the moment of the diagnosis (P =0 .004), school integration (p = 0.04), mothers' occupational activity (p = 0.003) and housing in urban areas (p = 0.036).

CONCLUSION: This study illustrates the importance of clinical factors in influencing parents' quality of life in order to advocate for measures to support them and to promote their quality of life, which in turn has positive impacts on the family climate.