Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
HONG KONG JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS, cilt.23, sa.1, ss.8-12, 2018 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess anxiety levels in parents of children admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and to identify influencing factors at admission. Method: One hundred and seventy critically ill children and their parents were enrolled in this study. The patients' demographic data, Paediatric Risk of Mortality score (PRISM III), Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction score (PELOD), reason for admission, comorbidities, mechanical ventilator procedure, PICU stay, and survival were recorded from the medical chart. The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to evaluate the parents' anxiety. Additionally, the parents' sex, age, time of admission, admission place, education level, and family income were recorded. Results: A total of 170 children and their parents were enrolled in this study. Ninety-two patients had a prior chronic illness. The family members of children in a PICU experience moderate anxiety during admission. The BAI was statistically higher in mothers than in fathers (p=0.009). According to the children's medical history, both parents' median BAI were not significantly different in acute illness(p=0.52). On the other hand. the BAI of mothers was higher than of fathers who had children with chronic illness (p=0.03). We found two variables that significantly contributed to the anxiety of parents associated with the PICU admission. These were the time of admission (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00-1.10) and a mechanical ventilation procedure (OR 5.93. 95% CI 2.66-10.53). Conclusions: While the anxiety is prominent for both parents of acutely ill children, the mothers of chronically ill children need more emotional support to create a robust patient-physician relationship during PICU admission. During this period, determining parental needs or the sources of stress may contribute to both the short- and long-term improvement of parents' mental health.