title: Long-time sickness absence among parents of pre-school children with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and down syndrome: a longitudinal study.
abstract: Taking care of a child with special needs can be draining and difficult and require a lot of parental time and resources. The present study investigated the long-term sickness absence of parents who have children with spina bifida, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome compared to that of parents without a child with special needs.
  
  
  
  The sample consisted of primiparae women who gave birth between 2001 and 2005 and the fathers of the children (N = 202,593). Data were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN), which is linked to the Central Population Register, education and income registries and Historical Event Database (FD-Trygd) of Statistics Norway (SSB). The linkage data provide longitudinal data, together with annual updates on children and their parents. Statistical analyses were performed using difference-in-difference (DD) study design.
  
  
  
  Caring for a child with special needs affected maternal sickness absence, particularly in the first year after the birth. The level of sickness absence of mothers caring for a child with spina bifida and cerebral palsy was greater than that of mothers caring for a child with Down syndrome. In contrast, the sickness absence of fathers caring for a child with special needs was, on average, comparable to that of fathers without a special-needs child in the post-birth period.
  
  
  
  Caring for a child with special needs affected the long-term sickness absence of mothers but not fathers. The findings indicate that the burden of care in the case of children with special needs falls especially on the mother.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences - Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Post Box 4, St. Olavs plass, N-0130, Oslo, Norway. idunn.brekke@hioa.no.
authors.forename: Idunn
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brekke
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences - Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Post Box 4, St. Olavs plass, N-0130, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Elena Albertini
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Früh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences - Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Post Box 4, St. Olavs plass, N-0130, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Lisbeth Gravdal
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Kvarme
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Holmstrøm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002547:Cerebral Palsy; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway; D016524:Parental Leave / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012042:Registries; D012737:Sex Factors; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism
keywords: Cerebral palsy; Children with special needs; Down syndrome; Parental health; Sickness absence; Spina bifida