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Parent stress levels during children's hospital recovery after congenital heart surgery

Parent stress levels during children's hospital recovery after congenital heart surgery
Parent stress levels during children's hospital recovery after congenital heart surgery
The hospitalization of a child for cardiac surgery is known to be a stressful experience for parents. However, little is known about the time course or the relationships between parental stress and the child's actual or perceived recovery. This research aimed to investigate pre- and postoperative parental stress and to examine some of the influencing factors during the postoperative period for children undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Parents of 211 children completed questionnaires and structured interviews preoperatively and on postoperative days 3, 5, 8, and 15. The stress of the parents remained moderate to high throughout their children's hospitalization regardless of the severity of illness. Parents' perceptions of their children's level of illness correlated with an objective measure of postoperative morbidity. There were few differences between mothers' and fathers' stress or their perceptions of their children's illness. Parents in more deprived communities and mothers born outside the UK had higher stress levels. These findings indicate the negative impact of children's surgery and intensive care hospitalization on parents. Better identification of parents at risk for high stress and specific interventions to improve parental support and coping are needed.
0172-0643
961-968
Franck, Linda S.
53babc2c-1153-4d4e-aa97-f46cf8384817
McQuillan, Annette
c58704e0-4143-48c5-9921-f04b7ce989cc
Wray, Jo
8fef83aa-5683-4166-8028-aeea87fe21d9
Grocott, Michael P.W.
1e87b741-513e-4a22-be13-0f7bb344e8c2
Goldman, Allan
c1c65fa0-c4d0-4de6-a637-459ab0ecdc55
Franck, Linda S.
53babc2c-1153-4d4e-aa97-f46cf8384817
McQuillan, Annette
c58704e0-4143-48c5-9921-f04b7ce989cc
Wray, Jo
8fef83aa-5683-4166-8028-aeea87fe21d9
Grocott, Michael P.W.
1e87b741-513e-4a22-be13-0f7bb344e8c2
Goldman, Allan
c1c65fa0-c4d0-4de6-a637-459ab0ecdc55

Franck, Linda S., McQuillan, Annette, Wray, Jo, Grocott, Michael P.W. and Goldman, Allan (2010) Parent stress levels during children's hospital recovery after congenital heart surgery. Pediatric Cardiology, 31 (7), 961-968. (doi:10.1007/s00246-010-9726-5). (PMID:20495910)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The hospitalization of a child for cardiac surgery is known to be a stressful experience for parents. However, little is known about the time course or the relationships between parental stress and the child's actual or perceived recovery. This research aimed to investigate pre- and postoperative parental stress and to examine some of the influencing factors during the postoperative period for children undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Parents of 211 children completed questionnaires and structured interviews preoperatively and on postoperative days 3, 5, 8, and 15. The stress of the parents remained moderate to high throughout their children's hospitalization regardless of the severity of illness. Parents' perceptions of their children's level of illness correlated with an objective measure of postoperative morbidity. There were few differences between mothers' and fathers' stress or their perceptions of their children's illness. Parents in more deprived communities and mothers born outside the UK had higher stress levels. These findings indicate the negative impact of children's surgery and intensive care hospitalization on parents. Better identification of parents at risk for high stress and specific interventions to improve parental support and coping are needed.

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Published date: October 2010
Organisations: Human Development & Health

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 348904
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/348904
ISSN: 0172-0643
PURE UUID: 4f537228-0533-46c5-a424-ad7c2940bb9c
ORCID for Michael P.W. Grocott: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9484-7581

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Date deposited: 21 Feb 2013 15:09
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:33

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Contributors

Author: Linda S. Franck
Author: Annette McQuillan
Author: Jo Wray
Author: Allan Goldman

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