Authors :
Presenting Author: Asuri Prasad, MB BS, MD, FRCPC, FRCPEdin, FAES – Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University
Stanka Fitneva, PhD – Psychology – Queens University
Rationale:
Canada’s National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY) survey data provides information on depression, family functioning, and parental coping measures amongst parents and caregivers of children with epilepsy.
Methods:
Data from cycle three of NLSCY were analyzed. The Person Most Knowledgeable (PMK) about the child responded to survey scale questionnaires measuring depression, family functioning, and social support. The data were analyzed using regression, controlling for income adequacy.
Results:
The sample included data from 31,963 children representing approximately 6.3 million children in the Canadian population. The child’s gender did not influence PMK’s responses. There was no significant interaction between income adequacy and child health on any of the outcome variables. PMKs for the control group reported higher levels of depression (B=3.31; CI 95% = 3.13, 3.50), family dysfunction (B=2.93; 95%CI 2.52, 3.33) and lower levels of social support (B=-0.78; 95%CI -1.03,-0.52) if they fell in the low-income adequacy group than in the high income-adequacy group. Caregivers reporting higher income adequacy, reported significantly higher levels of depression (B=1.91, 95% CI=1.06, 2.75), marginally higher levels of family dysfunction (B=1.62, 95% CI=-.22, 3.48), and significantly lower levels of social support (B=-1.49; CI 95% = -2.64, -0.33) if they had a child with epilepsy. In comparison, caregivers reporting low income adequacy, were less affected by whether or not their child had epilepsy in terms of depression (B=1.5), but were more affected in terms of family dysfunction (B=4.859) and social support (B=-1.898).
Conclusions:
In this population based survey, PMKs of children with epilepsy experience higher levels of depression and lower social support in comparison to parents of children without a diagnosed neurological condition. Low income appears to add additional burden on caregivers, especially on their relationships.
Funding: ANP, the principal investigator was funded through the Ontario Brain Institute Epidemiology theme grant for the work presented.