Parental Distress during Separation from Their Critically Ill Child

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIM: A child's critical illness is a stressful event for the entire family, causing significant emotional distress among parents and changes to family functioning. Family-centered care (FCC) has been endorsed by major professional organizations. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has abruptly caused modifications in visitation policies of PICUs in many countries. We hypothesized that caregivers with no or severely restricted access to PICUs would demonstrate elevated psychological distress compared to those who had limitless access to PICU. METHOD(S) Sociodemographics variables, levels of psychological distress, family functioning and ability to cope with stressful events were collected with an online survey in a group of caregivers (N=43) after their child hospitalization. A Pediatric Risk of Mortality-II (PRISM-II) score was calculated at child admission. Ratings of psychological distress were compared between caregivers with no/severely restricted (NA) and with limitless access (LA) to PICUs. All data were analyzed in the context of the Generalized Linear Model (GLZM). RESULT(S) Levels of depression, anxiety and the global severity index of psychological distress were significantly higher in NA with respect to LA (respectively LR chi2=9.885, p=0.001, LR chi2=5.54 p=0.08, LR chi2=6.928 p=0.008), correcting for gender, age, PRISM-II levels and personal ability to cope with stressful events. No significant effect of family functioning scores or other sociodemographic variables was found. CONCLUSION(S) Restrictions imposed to visitation policies in PICU during the pandemic negatively impacted on families' psychological well-being. A balance between safety of patients, families and health care professionals and meeting the needs of families is of utmost importance.