PhD Scientific Days 2022

Mental Health Sciences I. (Poster discussion will take place in the Aula during the Coffee Break)

A Hungarian-inhabited area-wide study about the quality of life of adolescents with Cerebral Palsy participating in conductive education

Text of the abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of neurodevelopmental disability. It affects the development of movement and posture, causing activity limitations that are attributed to non-progressive disturbances that occurred in the developing fetal or infant brain. A combination of these influences the quality of life (QOL) of teenagers living with CP.
Conductive education is a pedagogical rehabilitation method. One of the main aims of conductive education (CE) is to improve QOL in CP, despite it being a lifelong disorder.
Our study included young adolescents with CP participating in CE and their families living in Hungary and Hungarian-speaking families from Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine.
The Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life for the adolescent questionnaire (CPQOL) was translated and validated into the Hungarian by Semmelweis University Pető András Faculty in 2017. 40 young adolescents with CP (22 male, 18 female) aged 13-18 years (mean age: 15,25) and their family members (n= 40) were selected through convenience sampling based on inclusion criteria from CE schools. All data were analyzed by SPSS.
The analysis of the data showed a negative correlation in the Hungarian-speaking group between teens and caregivers on the following topics: toilet use and pain management (-0,623), specialist services available in the community and access to respite care (-0,882). The high correlation between having cerebral palsy and the ability to control pain (-0,752) and the ability to cope with pain (-0,754) is noteworthy because only the Hungarian teenagers group thought so. Based on these, we can assume that Hungarian adolescents think the less they are annoyed by CP, the more they can cope with pain, even if they have a poor motor function.
Based on the findings of this research, there aren't any differences between Hungarian and Hungarian- speaking families living in Slovakia, Romania, or Ukraine. Our work has led us to conclude that, the caregivers often assess the situation not with the teenager’s eyes but with their own. It is important to emphasize that an individual’s needs shape his or her QOL.