title: Stress in Fathers of Premature Newborns Admitted in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study stress in fathers of preterm infants admitted in a neonatal intensive care unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire-based study. Questionnaire included domains on infants health, maternal illness, staff behavior, parental role, home affairs and finances. Eligible fathers were repeatedly interviewed on day 7 (n=80), day 17 (n=59) and day 27 (n=28). Raw and standardized stress scores were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Financial burden was the main stressor at all times. Stress related to staff behavior and altered parental role reduced with time. Birthweight and fathers age, occupation and education independently predicted stress.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fathers of preterm infants admitted in hospital are stressed, primarily due to financial burden.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pediatrics and *Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. Correspondence to: Dr Sourabh Dutta, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160 012, India. sourabhdutta@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Sourabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahajan
authors.forename: Sunil K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Agrawal
authors.forename: Ritu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nehra
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*