Psychosocial Distress in Parents with Children Awaiting Surgery during the COVID-19 Pandemic

David Forner, Patricia K. Leslie, Abdullah Aldaihani, Michael Bezuhly, Christopher W. Noel, David Horne, Simon Walling, Johane Robitaille, Dawn L. Maclellan, Ron El-Hawary, Karl Logan, Rodrigo Romao, Robert Laroche, Suvro Sett, Robin Urquhart, Paul Hong

Résultat de recherche: Articleexamen par les pairs

8 Citations (Scopus)

Résumé

Due to resource restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many pediatric patients are facing substantial delays for surgery, potentially resulting in additional distress for caregivers. We aimed to assess the experiences and psychosocial distress of parents during COVID-19 as they relate to the pandemic, waiting for surgery, and the combined effects of both events. The was a cross-sectional qualitative study. Parents with children who faced treatment delays during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic for elective, non-emergent procedures across a variety of surgical specialties were recruited. Semi-structured telephone interviews and thematic analysis were utilized. Thematic saturation was reached with eighteen participants. Four themes were identified: coping with COVID-19, distress levels, quality and nature of communication with the surgical team, and the experience of COVID-19 related hospital restrictions. Participants reported varying levels of distress due to the delay in surgery, such as the fear of developmental delay or disease progression for their child. They also indicated their own physical and mental health had been impacted by emotional distress related to both COVID-19 and delays in treatment. Most participants experienced the COVID-19-related hospital restrictions as distressing. This related predominantly to limiting in-hospital caregivers to only one caregiver. Participants were found to have substantial levels of psychosocial distress. Targeted social and emotional support may be helpful in reducing parental distress as the pandemic timeframe continues. Within the limits of individual health systems, reducing restrictions to the number of allowed care givers may help allay distress felt by parents.

Langue d'origineEnglish
Numéro d'article87
JournalChildren
Volume9
Numéro de publication1
DOI
Statut de publicationPublished - janv. 2022

Note bibliographique

Funding Information:
Funding: David Forner received graduate student funding through the Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine Killam Scholarship and the Ross Stewart Smith Fellowship in Medical Research. Paul Hong is supported through a Dalhousie University Department of Surgery operating grant.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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