Elevated Parental Stress Is Associated With Lower Self-Efficacy in Provider Communication During a Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Effective communication between physician and parent promotes a successful alliance with families. The association of parental stress with self-efficacy when communicating during parent-physician interactions is unknown in the context of a pandemic. OBJECTIVES: Objectives of this study include quantifying and comparing the stress experienced by parents of hospitalized children before and after onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and examining the relationship of stress with self-efficacy in parent-physician communication during interactions throughout hospitalization. METHODS: We conducted in-person surveys of parents of children aged 3 months to 17 years hospitalized at a quaternary-level children's hospital, before and after onset of COVID-19. Parents completed 2 validated tools: Parenting Stress Index (PSI-SF) and the Perceived Efficacy in Parent-Physician Interactions (PEPPI), measuring self-efficacy in communicating with physicians. Socioeconomic data were collected. Fisher exact test and t test were used to compare score proportions and means; linear regression was used to evaluate association between PSI-SF and PEPPI with confounder adjustments. RESULTS: Forty-nine parents were recruited; the majority identified as non-White and female. An inverse relationship was noted between the total stress score and parental self-efficacy, which only attained statistical significance in the post-COVID-19 cohort (P = .02, multivariate P = .044). A significant increase in the mean was observed for subscale scores of Difficult Child (P = .019) and Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction after COVID-19 (P = .016). CONCLUSIONS: Elevated parental stress is associated with decreased self-efficacy during parent-physician interactions and it worsened during the pandemic. Future studies should examine the effect of different communication styles on parental stress and self-efficacy during hospitalization.

Incidence and factors influencing the spontaneous closure of Fontan fenestration.

INTRODUCTION: The Fontan operation is the final stage of single ventricle palliation in patients with complex congenital heart disease. Fenestration in the Fontan conduit, providing an atrial level right to left shunt, has been shown to reduce early postoperative morbidity. However, there is limited data on the long-term fate of this fenestration. The aim of this study is to define the rate of spontaneous closure of the fenestration in the Fontan conduit and factors predictive of the fate of the fenestration. METHODS: This was a retrospective study reviewing the medical records of the patients who underwent fenestrated Fontan operation at our center. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative variables including the status of the Fontan fenestration were extracted and analyzed. RESULTS: Of 67 patients included in the study, 15 (22%) had spontaneous closure of the fenestration. Of the remaining 52 patients, 11 (20%) had procedural closure of this fenestration (10 via cardiac catheterization and 1 via surgery) at a median duration of 3 months after the Fontan operation. Patients with higher preoperative pulmonary vascular resistance and a history of postoperative systemic venous thromboembolism had higher likelihood of having persistence of the fenestration with P value of .045 and .037, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of spontaneous closure of the Fontan fenestration was 22% in our study. Elevated preoperative pulmonary vascular resistance and history of systemic venous thromboembolism are predictive of persistent Fontan fenestration.