• Intensive Crit Care Nurs · Jun 2010

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    Do parents benefit from the offer of a follow-up appointment after their child's admission to intensive care?: an exploratory randomised controlled trial.

    • Gillian A Colville, Penelope R Cream, and Sally M Kerry.
    • Paediatric Psychology Service, St George's Hospital, London UK. gcolvill@sgul.ac.uk
    • Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2010 Jun 1;26(3):146-53.

    ObjectiveThe study aim was to evaluate the psychological impact on parents of the provision of a paediatric intensive care follow-up clinic.DesignExploratory randomised controlled trial. Families were allocated to intervention (follow-up clinic appointment two months after discharge) or control (no appointment) condition.SettingAn eight-bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in an inner city teaching hospital.MeasurementsParents' baseline stress was assessed using the Parental Stressor Scale: PICU. Post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression were assessed at five months using the Impact of Event Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.ResultsOnly 18/72 families (25%) in the intervention group chose to attend the clinic. Outcome data were provided by 55/82 parents in the intervention group and 50/72 in the control group. Although no significant differences were found between the groups as a whole, parents with higher baseline stress reported lower rates of post-traumatic stress (n=8/32(25%) vs. n=13/23(57%), p=0.018) and depression (n=6/32(19%) vs. n=12/23(52%), p=0.009) at five months if they had been offered an appointment than if they had not.ConclusionsWhilst these results do not justify routine follow-up for all, they suggest that, for the most traumatised parents, rates of long-term distress could be reduced by this intervention.Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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