Child and parent distress following paediatric critical illness and its impacts on family functioning: A retrospective study

Abstract

AIMS & OBJECTIVES: To determine the levels of child and parental distress and its impact on family function following PICU admission. METHODS: Caregivers of children (<18 years) admitted to the PICU (>24 hours) between 2014- 2017 were invited to complete the Paediatric Emotional Distress Scale - Early Screener (PEDS-ES)(age 12mth-5yrs) or the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES)(6-18yrs) for child distress and Primary Care PTSD Screen (PC-PTSD) for parent distress. The PedsQL Family Impact Module (FIM) was used to assess family functioning. Children with a Cardiac diagnosis were excluded. Child distress was defined as a PEDS-ES score ≥15 or CRIES score ≥31. Parent distress was defined as PC-PTSD score ≥4. Poor family functioning was defined as FIM ≥1SD below mean of healthy comparisons. Associations were examined using Fishers Exact tests. RESULTS: A total of 230 surveys were returned. Overall, 23% of young children and 15% of older children were reported as at risk for probable PTSD. Nineteen percent of parents reported symptoms suggestive to probable PTSD. There was a trend towards statistical significance between PC-PTSD and PEDS-ES (□2(1)=4.11,p=.05). There was a significant association between PC-PTSD and CRIES (□2(1)=16.66,p<.000) and FIM and PEDS-ES (□2(1)=8.68,p=.006), CRIES (□2(1)=13.39,p=.001) and PCPTSD (□2(1)=34.52,p<.000). CONCLUSIONS: In this single centre, retrospective follow up study, we found 1 in 5 children and their parents are at risk for probable PTSD following PICU admission. Both child and parent distress significantly impacted reported family functioning, which may affect development, attendance at school/work, and compliance with ongoing treatments.L6347729702021-04-21 <br />