Caregiving Burden and Health Disparities: A Nationwide Study of 2,180 Parents Caring for Children With Developmental...

Parents are the primary caregivers for children with developmental disabilities in most families. Caregiving burden may manifest across multiple domains of daily living and the well-being of parents caring for children with developmental disabilities. This study assessed caregiving burden and lifetime experiences due to caregiving burden and identified health disparities between parents caring for children with developmental disabilities and the general population.

A nationwide survey of 2,180 Korean parents caring for children with developmental disabilities was conducted in 2024 and analyzed in 2025. This study assessed the prevalence of health indicators, including poor self-rated health, past-year suicidal behaviors, and past-year unmet healthcare and dental care needs. To compare the prevalence of health indicators between parents caring for children with developmental disabilities and the general population, sex- and age-standardized prevalence ratios were estimated using nationally representative data from the 2023 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Among parents caring for children with developmental disabilities, 86.9% reported an overall caregiving burden, and 51.9% had no backup caregiver available when needed. Furthermore, 66.9% reported having ever quit a job owing to caregiving burden. In standardized prevalence ratio analyses, parents caring for children with developmental disabilities showed a higher prevalence across all indicators than the general population. The prevalence of suicidal ideation (standardized prevalence ratio=7.31, 95% CI=6.76, 7.90), suicide plans (standardized prevalence ratio=8.59, 95% CI=7.30, 10.10), and suicide attempts (standardized prevalence ratio=4.03, 95% CI=3.05, 5.33) was higher among parents caring for children with developmental disabilities than in the general population. In addition, the prevalence of unmet healthcare needs was higher (standardized prevalence ratio=6.00, 95% CI=5.66, 6.36).

The findings suggest that parents caring for children with developmental disabilities had poorer health but did not receive needed healthcare compared with the general population.