Elhadi, NasereldinAl- Buloshi, Ahmed Fouad2024-01-092024-01-092018https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14154/70728Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disorder that affects one’s posture and movement, and it can be related to sensory, cognitive, perceptual, and psychological disturbances (Sankar and Mundkur, 2005; Bax, Flodmark and Tydeman, 2007). This disorder's etiology is multifactorial in nature, and it is possible during the prenatal, perinatal, or post-natal periods (Sankar and Mundkur, 2005). Children suffering from CP have many neurological deficits, which interfere with their motor functions and, in turn, their ability to engage in daily activities (Gormley, 2001). Hence these activities are affected. Performing a functional assessment has become a necessary part of a rehabilitation program to measure the program's effectiveness and the patient's clinical progress (Hall et al., 1993). Therapeutic intervention with CP children should primarily strive toward equipping such children with the relevant skills to help them execute essential tasks and engage in day-to-day activities. These activities of daily living are associated with life, such as self-care, transfers, mobility, communication and social cognition (Tur et al., 2009). However, few studies have addressed the performance of daily activities in children with CP (Ostensjø, Carlberg and Vøllestad, 2003) Beyond the consideration of functional activities, physiotherapists must also keep participation in mind while assessing cases of patients suffering from CP. Participation is becoming increasingly significant in childhood, particularly in the realm of childhood disability, since children with disabilities are typically more constrained when participating in recreational activities, daily activities, social events and sports than their peers. This leads to low life satisfaction as children turn into adults, and this gap widens as they grow up. Importantly, it is not merely a child's physical or mental ability that is associated with participation. In contrast, participation engages with multiple other factors within the child and the environment wherein a child's growth occurs. For example, family perceptions, gender, age and family income are linked to participation in many previous studies (Anastasiadi and Tzetzis, 2013). Another aspect often undermined and frequently overlooked is the caregiver's quality of life. This factor plays a vital role in the life of children suffering from CP. Over the past two decades, healthcare strategies and technological advances in medicine have radically increased the life span of many children suffering from CP. Simultaneously, many parents have started seeking innovative ways to raise their children with CP at home and include them in a productive and meaningful manner in their communities. In addition, a home environment can 2 maximize the child's capabilities, minimize the adverse effects of the impairments and reduce or completely prevent the hospitalization stay period ('Guidelines for home care of infants, children, and adolescents with chronic disease. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Children with Disabilities,' 1995). Despite such positive benefits and the consideration that caregiving is a natural component of parenting young children in general, the demands associated with facilitating high levels of care required by a child with functional limitations that persist in the long term can quickly become burdensome for the caregivers and, in turn, affect their physical and mental health and well-being (Raina et al., 2004). Moreover, the families of children with disabilities have to handle more significant financial stress, struggle with frequent disruptions of family routines, and reduced social activities (Thyen, Kuhlthau and Perrin, 1999). Only a few studies have directly addressed how the mothers' quality of life is affected due to their engagement in caregiving activities for children with a disability (Eker and Tüzün, 2004). Hence Saudi Arabia has a different culture than the western world, and CP is a common disorder here; we are interested in finding the children's functional capacities, participation levels, along with their caregiver’s burden and various factors affecting these parameters along with the relationship between these variables.enClinical Laboratory SciencesMicrobiologyThesis