Burdens on Caregivers of Children with Down Syndrome in Middle Euphrates Region of Iraq Al-Bahadli Esraa Shaker1, Adai Murtadha Ghanim1 1Faculty of Nursing, Kufa University, Najaf, Iraq Online published on 8 March, 2019. Abstract Background Down syndrome (DS) is the most frequent chromosomal disorder resulting from chromosome 21 trisomy. The demands on the family of children with DS are significantly higher, because the family must actively participate in the care of the child due to the delay in development, the limitations in activities of daily living related to self-care such as dressing, personal hygiene, walking and talking, and aspects related to health, education and leisure. Objectives of the study were to assess the burdens of caregivers of children with Down syndrome and to find out the relationship between burdens of caregiver and their demographic characteristics. Method A descriptive cross-sectional design study was carried out in the institutes of special needs in middle Euphrates region of Iraq. A probability (cluster) sampling method was used to select 100 caregivers. The study was carried out from 18th, February to 22nd, June 2018. Results Down syndrome occurred in male more than female children who get care mostly from female caregivers. Economic and physical burdens had high scores burden evaluations in all studied cities. Older age of caregiver had great burden evaluation. Caregivers with high socioeconomic status had great burden evaluation in all studied provinces. Conclusion the Caregivers of Down syndrome children are impacted by psychosocial, physical, emotional and physical burdens at high to moderate leves. Top Keywords Psychological burden, Down Syndrome, caregivers, correlation, socioeconomic status, training session. Top |