Abstract
A questionnaire survey for 58 mothers caring for a cerebral palsy child at home was carried to clarify the causes of mothers’ low back pain and to ascertain home care conditions. The mothers were divided into two groups; mild and severe low back pain groups. As a result, we confirmed the statistical significance (p < 0.05) of 6 items between the two groups: (a) face scale for cervical-brachial pain, (b) total hours of care, (c) going to hospital regularly or not at present, (d) care giving burden, (e) will to continue with home care, and (f) the necessity of position changes at nighttime. The items of physical burden that many mothers rated the highest were holding the child and bath care. The conditions they labored under were also related to the child’s growth, their own aging, and various mental burdens. In this research, we clarified that mothers caring at home for a child with cerebral palsy have to adapt to physically burdensome conditions such as low back pain, as well as mental stresses. It is important that efforts be made to alleviate the physical and mental burdens suffered by mothers caring for a child with cerebral palsy at home.
