DEPRESSION AND PLASMA OXYTOCIN LEVELS IN MOTHERS HAVING CEREBRAL PALSY CHILDREN

Authors

  • Ayesha Gohier Department of Physiology, Rai Medical College, Sargodha, Pakistan
  • Jadoon Department of Physiology, Nowshera Medical College, Nowshera, Pakistan
  • Nimrah Siddique Department of Physiology, Bahawalpur Medical & Dental College, Bahawalpur, Pakistan
  • Asfandyar Qureshi Department of Physiology, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, Pakistan
  • Syed Ali Ashiq Hussain Shah Bukhari Department of Anatomy, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v21i3.1722

Keywords:

BDI-II, Cerebral Palsy, Depression, Oxytocin

Abstract

Background: Children suffering from cerebral palsy (CP) experience many medical, social and psychological problems. Their family members, undertake a lot of difficulties emotionally, physically, socially, and economically. The study aimed to estimate the severity of depression in mothers looking after children suffering from severe CP and compared their depression scores with the scores of mothers having healthy children. Depression scores were correlated with the plasma oxytocin levels of the mothers. Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study included 21 mothers having children suffering from severe CP and 21 controls. All mothers were below 40 years of age. Depression was estimated using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Plasma oxytocin was measured using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between the mean scores of BDI II between the two groups (p=0.011). By applying the Spearman correlation test, depression scores showed a negative significant correlation with the plasma oxytocin levels. Conclusion: Mothers having CP children are more prone to depression than mothers having healthy children. The significant negative correlation of plasma oxytocin levels with depression scores suggests its predictive role in depression and its use in adjunct therapy in treatment plans.

Pak J Physiol 2025;21(3):14-7, DOI: https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v21i3.1722

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

World Health Organization. Depression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates. WHO; 2017. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/depression-global-health-estimates. [Cited: 13 Jan 2022]

Vigo D, Jones L, Atun R, Thornicroft G. The true global disease burden of mental illness: still elusive. Lancet Psychiatry 2022;9(2):98–100.

Raza HMA, Jabeen H, Ijaz A, Afzal B, Mumtaz S, Hanif HMB. Association of cerebral palsy (CP) child behavior with caregiver stress level. Int Health Rev 2022;2(2):1–9.

Ahmad A, Akhtar N , Ali H. Prevalence of cerebral palsy in children of district Swabi, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa-Pakistan. Khyber Med Univ J 2017;7(2):88–91.

Bangash AS, Hanafi MZ, Idrees R, Zehra N. Risk factors and types of cerebral palsy. J Pak Med Assoc 2014;64(1):103–7.

Sadowska M, Sarecka-Hujar B, Kopyta I. Analysis of selected risk factors depending on the type of cerebral palsy. Brain Sciences. 2021;11(11):1448.

Kamaralzaman S, Ying TC, Suziyani M, Toran H, Satari N, Abdullah N. The economic burden of families of children with cerebral palsy in Malaysia. Malaysian J Public Health Med 2018;2018:156–65.

Ahmed KJ, Debnath S, Alam MA, Bhattacharjee I, Hasan MM. Determinants of health-related quality of life of mothers having children with cerebral palsy in Brahmanbaria PSOSK, Bangladesh. J Disabil Stud 2021;7(2):84–9.

Barreto TM, Bento MN, Barreto TM, Jagersbacher JG, Jones NS, Lucena R, et al. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and substance?related disorders in parents of children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review. Dev Med Child Neurol 2020;62(2):163–8.

Comes-Fayos J, Romero-Martínez Á, Rodríguez Moreno I, Blanco-Gandía MC, Rodríguez-Arias M, Lila M, et al. Hormonal profile in response to an empathic induction task in perpetrators of intimate partner violence: oxytocin/testosterone ratio and social cognition. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022;19(13):7897.

Shou Q, Yamada J, Nishina K, Matsunaga M, Kiyonari T, Takagishi H. Is oxytocin a trust hormone? Salivary oxytocin is associated with caution but not with general trust. PloS One 2022;17(5):e0267988.

Veiga L, Carolino E, Santos I, Veríssimo C, Almeida A, Grilo A, et al. Depressive symptomatology, temperament and oxytocin serum levels in a sample of healthy female university students. BMC Psychol 2022;10(1):36.

Ellenbogen MA, Cardoso C, Serravalle L, Vadaga K, Joober R. The effects of intranasal oxytocin on the efficacy of psychotherapy for major depressive disorder: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Psychol Med 2024;54(9):2122–32.

Djuric-Zdravkovic A, Perovic D, Milanovic-Dobrota B, Japundza-Milisavljevic M. Gross motor skills in children with cerebral palsy and intellectual disability. Phys Med Rehabil Kurortmed 2021;31(1):44–51.

Altindag Ö, I?can A, Akcan S, Koksal S, Erçin M, Ege L. Anxiety and Depression Levels in Mothers of Children with Cerebral Palsy. Turk J Phys Med Rehab 2007;53(1):22–4.

Wang YP, Gorenstein C. Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II: a comprehensive review. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 2013;35(4):416–31.

Gohier A, Jadoon A, Fayyaz SS, Kiran N, Akhtar N, Qamar Z. Severity of Depression in Mothers of children suffering from Cerebral Palsy. Pak J Med Health Sci 2022;16(8):18–20.

Bover J, Bosch R, Luis Górriz J, Ureña P, Ortiz A, daSilva I, et al. Kidneys also speak Spanish: Initiatives towards standardisation of our nephrology nomenclature. Nefrología (Engl Ed) 2022;42(3):223–32.

Reynard J, Brewster SF, Biers S, Neal NL, (Eds). Oxford handbook of urology. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2019.

Hoffiz YC, Castillo-Ruiz A, Hall MAL, Hite TA, Gray JM, Cisternas CD, et al. Birth elicits a conserved neuroendocrine response with implications for perinatal osmoregulation and neuronal cell death. Sci Rep 2021;11(1):2335.

Sajedi F, Alizad V, Malekkhosravi G, Karimlou M, Vameghi R. Depression in mothers of children with cerebral palsy and its relation to severity and type of cerebral palsy. Acta Med Iran 2010;48(4):250–4.

Park EY. Depression and social support in mothers of children with cerebral palsy: A longitudinal study. J Child Fam Stud 2024;33:1415–24.

Simsek C, Mengi A, Yalcinkaya EY. The effect of psychodrama on quality of life and sleep in mothers of children with cerebral palsy. Arts Psychother 2021;72:101726.

Fathima Rifshiya AR, Abeypala A, Faslul Haq MH. Quality of life among mothers of children with normal development and mothers of children with Falij-e-Dimagh (Cerebral Palsy). IJCRT 2021;9(3):669–74.

Soliman RH, Altwairqi RG, Alshamrani NA, Al-Zahrani AA, Al-Towairqi RM, Al-Habashi AH. Relationship between quality of life of children with cerebral palsy and their mothers’ depression and anxiety. Saudi J Health Sci 2019;8(1):1–5.

Alsaad A, Alramadhan N, ALjumah M, Alghareeb F, Alghadeer H. The effect of the parents’ anxiety and depression on the quality of life of children with cerebral palsy in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Med Sci 2021;25:2778–88.

Harputluo?lu N, Çubukçu D, Y?lmaz Ü, Çelik T. Investigation of care burden and musculoskeletal pain of parents of paediatric palliative care patients in Turkey. East Mediterr Health J 2022;28(8):569–76.

Güne? P, Dikmen Ho?ba? B, Karamanc?o?lu B, Altunalan T. Fatigue and depression in mothers caring for children with spina bifida: Examining the role of child's functionality. J Exp Clin Med 2024;41(1):47–52.

Ozsoy S, Esel E, Kula M. Serum oxytocin levels in patients with depression and the effects of gender and antidepressant treatment. Psychiatry Res 2009;169(3):249–52.

Downloads

Published

30-09-2025

How to Cite

1.
Gohier A, Jadoon A, Siddique N, Qureshi A, Bukhari SAAHS. DEPRESSION AND PLASMA OXYTOCIN LEVELS IN MOTHERS HAVING CEREBRAL PALSY CHILDREN. Pak J Phsyiol [Internet]. 2025 Sep. 30 [cited 2025 Oct. 7];21(3):14-7. Available from: https://pjp.pps.org.pk/index.php/PJP/article/view/1722

Issue

Section

Original Article