Effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions on depression and quality of life of mothers with autistic children Khanum Sadia1, Begum Rashida2 1Master of Occupational Therapy Student Jamia Hamdard University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Near Batra Hospital, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi 2Assistant Professor, Jamia Hamdard University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Near Batra Hospital, Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi Online published on 26 October, 2018. Abstract Background Evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in mothers of autistic children and to identify correlations between quality of life and socio-demographic profile. Objective Effectiveness of occupational therapy intervention on depression and quality of life of mothers with autistic children. Materials and Method A pre-test post-test single group design was used. The study was conducted with 40 mothers who had their child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Permission was taken from two different therapy centres located in New Delhi. 40 mothers, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected. They were asked to given a written consent for the participation in the study. General assessment of mothers was carried out. Depression and Quality of life of mothers with autistic children was assessed by face to face interview using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and World Health Organization Quality of life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF). Occupational therapy interventions given to those mothers who have depression and low quality of life. Results The finding of present study shows that an occupational therapy intervention gives a positive impact on mental health situation as well as on physical health of mothers with autistic children. Mean scores of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), pre and post intervention are 3.98 and 2.03 respectively t-value is 15.754. This shows regression in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Quality of life is also improved in all four domains. Conclusion It is concluded that occupational therapy interventions are helpful for mothers with autistic children to deal with depression and enhance their quality of life. Top Keywords Depression, Quality of life, Mothers of autistic children. Top |