Families' situation of caring for a child with a chronic condition: a mixed methods study.

The study is descriptive and cross-sectional, so it cannot show that a family's view causes better or worse management. Only 53 families were studied, and the children had different chronic conditions with different severities, so findings may not apply to a specific child. The scale's consistency was acceptable overall (0.89), but lower for the impact (0.56) and effort (0.51) subscales. Most respondents were mothers (47 of 53), so fathers' and other caregivers' perspectives were limited. Some interviews were by telephone rather than at home, which may limit observation of the care environment.

Do not treat a score above 15 on the Child's Daily Life scale as proof that the child's condition is mild or that the family needs less support. Families with those scores still described dependence, medication, devices, and limited mobility.