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Published on: April 22, 2015
Quality of Life in siblings of autistic patients
Adriana Regina Ferreira Marciano1, Cláudia Ines Scheuer
1Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Service (SEPIA), Institute of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of São Paulo (FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil.
Objective:
To evaluate the Quality of Life (QoL) among siblings of autistic patients.
Methods:
Casuistic: siblings of autistic patients (n = 31) and, as a control group, siblings of patients with speech disorder (n = 30).
Inclusion Criteria:
age between 7 and 11 years old; absence of current mental disorder; regular attendance to school.
Exclusion Criteria:
antecedents of clinical or psychiatric diseases; disabilities (visual, auditive or motor); antecedents of cognitive and/or intelligence disabilities. Instruments included a questionnaire which evaluated the quality of life in a subjective way.
Results:
it was observed worse QoL among siblings of autistic patients (p = 0.000).
Conclusion:
The hypothesis that the quality of life was compromised in children (aged 7 to 11) by the presence of an autistic sibling was confirmed, and was worse than that of siblings of children with speech disorders.
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