a comparative analysis on quality of life in mothers of autistic, blind, and normal-functioning children

background: quality of life largely depends on one’s perception about different aspects life. the present investigation aimed at comparing the quality of life of mothers with autistic, blind, or normal-functioning children.   materials and methods: this cross-sectional comparative study was done in a population of 146 mothers of children who aged 6-15 years old, in shiraz, within the period 2013-2014. ninety six mothers had children who were either blind or autistic, while 50 had children with no disabilities. participants were enrolled through multi-stage cluster sampling method.  the quality of life (qol) questionnaire-100 was employed to collect data and one-way anova was used to analyze results. results: findings demonstrated a significant difference in qol of mothers with autistic, blind, and normal-functioning children. mothers with normal-functioning children had higher levels of qol than those with blind kids. in addition, the qol of mothers with autistic children was lower than the other two groups. conclusion: considering the importance of quality of life in mothers’ life and subsequent family functioning, relevant programs need to be pursued to improve conflict resolution in distressed groups.