The Association between Therapeutic Alliance and Parental Health Outcomes following a Child's Death in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
J Pediatr Intensive Care
; 12(1): 3-11, 2023 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36742250
ABSTRACT
Therapeutic alliance reflects the strength and quality of the physician-patient/family relationship. We investigated the association between therapeutic alliance and bereaved parents' mental health and perceived overall health following their child's death in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Bereaved parents were surveyed 6 months after their child's death in a PICU affiliated with the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network. Parents were evaluated for complicated grief, depression, and post-traumatic stress using the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), and the Short Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Rating Interview (SPRINT), respectively. Overall health was evaluated using a single item. Therapeutic alliance between parents and their deceased child's PICU physicians was assessed using the Human Connection scale (HCS). Two hundred and thirty-five parents of 158 deceased children completed surveys. Mean ICG score was 34.4 ± 14.9 with 142 (60.4%) parents screening positive for complicated grief. Mean PHQ-8 score was 9.1 ± 6.2 with 102 (43.4%) screening positive for at least moderate depression. Mean SPRINT score was 14.6 ± 8.2 with 122 (51.9%) screening positive for post-traumatic stress disorder. Overall health was perceived as fair for 47 (20.0%) parents and poor for 10 (4.3%). Using multivariable modeling, higher HCS score (greater therapeutic alliance) was significantly associated with lower (better) ICG score (-0.23, 95% CI -0.42, -0.04, p = 0.018). HCS score was not significantly associated with PHQ-8, SPRINT, or overall health scores. We conclude that bereaved parents experience a high level of adverse mental health symptoms including complicated grief, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Greater therapeutic alliance with PICU physicians may lessen symptoms of complicated grief during bereavement.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Pediatr Intensive Care
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos
Pais de publicación:
ALEMANHA
/
ALEMANIA
/
DE
/
DEUSTCHLAND
/
GERMANY