• Melisa Pasli and Dmitry Tumin.
• From the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville NC (MP), Department of Pediatrics, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville NC (DT). paslim20@students.ecu.edu.
• J Am Board Fam Med. 2023 Oct 11; 36 (5): 731738731-738.

BackgroundCaregivers of children with special health care needs (SHCN) report worse self-rated health when compared with caregivers of children without SHCN and have experienced significant stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to determine whether COVID-19 pandemic-era declines in well-being among caregivers of children with SHCN were steeper than among caregivers of children without SHCN.MethodsWe used 2020 to 2021 (pandemic-era, n = 89,560) and 2018 to 2019 (pre-pandemic, n = 57,927) data from the National Survey of Children's Health. Caregiver-reported physical and mental health outcomes were analyzed using multivariable ordinal logistic regression.ResultsThe pandemic era was associated with 26% higher odds of reporting worse mental health among caregivers of children with SHCN (95% confidence interval [CI]: +16%, +38%), and 20% higher odds of reporting worse mental health among caregivers of children without SHCN (95% CI: +15%, +26%). The magnitudes of these changes were not significantly different from one another (P = .341).ConclusionsAlthough caregivers of children with SHCN faced significant burdens and increased stress during the pandemic, decline in self-rated mental health among this group was similar to the trend seen among caregivers of children without SHCN.© Copyright by the American Board of Family Medicine.

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