Long-term psychological distress in parents of child survivors of severe meningococcal disease.
OBJECTIVE
To study psychological distress in parents of child survivors of Severe Meningococcal Disease (SMD) after discharge of their child from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).


METHODS
This study approached parents of child survivors of SMD treated on the PICU between 1993-2001. Five cross-sectional groups were created for mothers and fathers separately. The five groups differed from each other by the period after discharge they entered the project (ranging from 3 months to 7 years after discharge). For research purposes, mothers and fathers (n = 192) individually completed the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire-30 (GHQ), measuring their level of psychological distress.


METHODS
Mean group scores were examined and a one-way-analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed to study differences between groups for mothers and fathers separately. In addition, percentages of parents with GHQ scores above cut-off were calculated and it was determined whether it differed from norm data.


RESULTS
Data reveal that both mothers and fathers experience high mean levels of psychological distress after discharge, showing no significant differences in group means over time. High percentages of parents experience psychological distress after discharge, if compared with the normal population.


CONCLUSIONS
Parents of child survivors of SMD experience profound and prolonged psychological distress after discharge. Future interventions should focus on follow-up care for this population to help them re-adjust after this stressful event.
Ehrlich
Tirtsa R
TR
Pediatric Psychosocial Department, Emma Children's Hospital/Academic Medical Centre of the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Von Rosenstiel
Ines A
IA
Grootenhuis
Martha A
MA
Gerrits
Astrid I
AI
Bos
Albert P
AP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D017741:Survivors