[Parents of children with esophageal atresia--important source of knowledge].
BACKGROUND
Follow-up studies on children with oesophageal atresia have shown that they often have eating and respiratory problems in early childhood. Psychosocial follow-up studies are scarce. In the design of a comprehensive biopsychosocial follow-up study of children and adolescents with oesophageal atresia, we wanted to include the knowledge of parents regarding the course of the disease.


METHODS
We asked 29 parents participating in a meeting of members of the Norwegian support group for oesophageal atresia to complete a questionnaire about the somatic and psychosocial functioning of their child. Parental satisfaction with the health services responsible for their child was also assessed.


RESULTS
Parents of 25 children (86%) with median age 4 years (8 months-16 years) responded. The main problems reported were related to respiratory infections (12/25), chronic cough (17/25), wheezing (19/25), swallowing difficulties (23/25), and psychosocial problems related to meals (11/23).


CONCLUSIONS
Although selection bias may have influenced the results, the parents reported enduring respiratory, feeding and psychosocial problems beyond their child's early childhood.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004933:Esophageal Atresia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019359:Knowledge; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Foreldre til barn med oesophagusatresi--viktig kilde til kunnskap.