Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Oct;20(4):350-6.
doi: 10.17712/nsj.2015.4.20150319.

Depression and anxiety among parents of phenylketonuria children

Mehmet Gunduz  1 , Nur Arslan, Ozlem Unal, Sevim Cakar, Pinar Kuyum, Selda F Bulbul
Affiliations

Depression and anxiety among parents of phenylketonuria children

Mehmet Gunduz et al. Neurosciences (Riyadh). 2015 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the existence of depression and/or anxiety with underlying risk factors among parents of children with classical phenylketonuria (PKU).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Division of Pediatric Metabolism, Ankara Children`s Hospital, Dokuz Eylul University, Kirikkale University, and Erzurum Local Research Hospital, Turkey, between January and July 2014. Parents of 61 patients and 36 healthy controls completed the self-report questionnaires. We used Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to assess the parental depression and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory S-T (STAI S-T) to assess parental anxiety.

Results: Depression and anxiety scores were significantly higher in the case group (BDI: 12.3 ± 9.1; STAI-S: 38.2 ± 9.6; STAI-T: 43.2 ± 6.9) than controls (BDI: 5.4 ± 4.1 p=0.000; STAI-S: 31.8 ± 7.6 p=0.001; STAI-T: 37.0 ± 7.2 p=0.000). Mothers of the patients had higher scores than the other parental groups (BDI: p=0.000, STAI-S: p=0.001 and STAI-T: p=0.000). Logistic regression analysis showed that low educational level of the parent was the only independent factor for depression (OR: 9.96, 95% CI: 1.89-52.35, p=0.007) and state anxiety (OR: 6.99, 95% CI: 1.22-40.48, p=0.030) in the case group.

Conclusion: A subset of parents with PKU patients have an anxiety or depressive disorder. Supportive services dealing with the parents of chronically ill children such as PKU are needed in order to reduce the level of anxiety.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. DeRoche K, Welsh M. Twenty-five years of research on neurocognitive outcomes in early-treated phenylketonuria: intelligence and executive function. Dev Neuropsychol. 2008;33:474–504. - PubMed
    1. Jahja R, Huijbregts SC, de Sonneville LM, van der Meere JJ, van Spronsen FJ. Neurocognitive evidence for revision of treatment targets and guidelines for phenylketonuria. J Pediatr. 2014;164:895–899. - PubMed
    1. Waisbren SE, Noel K, Fahrbach K, Cella C, Frame D, Dorenbaum A, et al. Phenylalanine blood levels and clinical outcomes in phenylketonuria: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Mol Genet Metab. 2007;92:63–70. - PubMed
    1. Demirkol M, Giżewska M, Giovannini M, Walter J. Follow up of phenylketonuria patients. Mol Genet Metab. 2011;104:S31–S39. - PubMed
    1. MaCdonald A, van Rijn M, Feillet F, Lund AM, Bernstein L, Bosch AM, et al. Adherence issues in inherited metabolic disorders treated by low natural protein diets. Ann Nutr Metab. 2012;61:289–295. - PubMed