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Background and Objectives: In Iranian Islamic culture, one of the most important duties of mothers is to take care of their children. Caring for a child with a mental or physical disability is fraught with challenges. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to review the lived experiences of mothers with children with physical and mental disabilities. Materials and Methods: This study was performed by a qualitative approach and document analysis using meta-synthesis method to examine 13 articles related to the seven-step method of Sandlowski and Barros. The stages of this research included preparing the research question, reviewing the texts systematically, searching and selecting appropriate texts, extracting textual information, analyzing and combining qualitative findings, quality control, and presenting the findings. Results: Dimensions and categories included individual dimensions (personal education and knowledge, emotions, spirituality, defense mechanisms, personal life) and social dimensions (social stigmas, social supports). Conclusions: The findings of the present study revealed that mothers with disabled children experience many painful experiences and psychosocial concerns about caring for their disabled child. These findings highlight the need for specialized support for mothers during the first years of a disabled child's birth and beyond, and encourage readers and professionals to make each of these categories a potential therapeutic goal, and to strengthen mothers' strengths in resilience, and in this way prevent the damage they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Mothers with a disabled child experience excessive stress, fatigue, frustration, and depression. Failure of mothers to effectively deal with these symptoms can lead to chronic fatigue and, in the long run, burnout. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of supportive-training intervention on the burnout of mothers with disabled children. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 70 mothers with disabled children studying in special schools were selected in one of the urban areas of Iran. They were divided into two groups of intervention and control, using minimization random method. In the intervention group, mothers participated in supportive-training sessions once a week for a period of 6 weeks. The control group did not receive any special interventions. The data collection tool was a demographic data form and Shirom-Melamed Burnout Questionnaire (SMBQ). Burnout was evaluated as primary outcome at the beginning of the study and one month after the end of the intervention. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 18. Results: Based on the results, there was no significant difference between the mean score of burnout in the intervention and control groups before the intervention. However, after the intervention, the mean score of burnout in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Conclusion: Considering the positive effect of supportive-training intervention on the burnout of mothers of disabled children, this intervention is recommended by nurses and other health care providers in special schools, health centers, and supportive institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malnutrition can potentially prone a disabled child to further morbidities thus imposing further suffering to the affected child and his/her family. This is the first report on the nutritional status of physically disabled children from lran. Methods: A total of 290 physically disabled children aged 6-12 yeas old. of both sexes, and from all specialized schools in Tehran, Meshed and Rasht were enrolled in a descriptive cross-sectional study. Dietary assessment was performed for disabled children using 24hr and food-frequency questionnaires. Weight and height were assessed and body mass index (BMI) was calculated for all subjects. Results: In disabled children, while the mean energy intake was more than 90% of the amount required, mean calcium and iron intakes were 75.8% and 58.7% of the corresponding required amounts. Despite absence of significant difference in energy and fat intake, the intakes of protein, calcium and riboflavin were significantly lower in girls than in boys. Z score of weight showed that over 40% of disabled girls and boys were underweight. Comparison with anthropometric data from other studies showed that low weight was more prevalent in disabled than in non-disabled children (p<0.001). Moreover, both disabled boys and girls had significantly shorter statures than their nondisabled counterparts. Conclusions: Malnutrition (low weight and stunting) is quite prevalent among Iranian children with motor disabilities and it is more prevalent in girls than in boys. It seems that poor food composition is a more important contributing factor than total low calorie intake. These data warrants further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]