Ann Thorac Surg. 2020 Mar 05. pii: S0003-4975(20)30340-4. [Epub ahead of print]
BACKGROUND: This study investigated factors associated with long-term mental health outcomes of parents of children with a cardiac illness. The objective of the study was to investigate the hypothesis that acute mental health status and psychosocial risk factors (e.g., acute stress reactions, quality of life) would be more strongly associated with long-term mental health outcomes than demographic, diagnostic, morphology or procedure-related factors.METHODS: Participants were 31 parents of children that underwent cardiac surgery within a pediatric hospital. Acute mental health status, psychosocial risk, demographic information, and morphology and procedure-related data were collected within the first 4 weeks of the child's hospital admission. Mental health outcomes, including symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety and general stress, were collected at a 2-year follow-up.
RESULTS: Acute mental health status and psychosocial risk, specifically acute stress reactions, contributed significantly to parent mental health, explaining 44% of the variance in parent post-traumatic stress score (p<0.001); and, 40% in depression scores (p<0.001). Morphology and procedure-related factors (e.g. prolonged mechanical ventilation) explained a further 12% of the variance in parent post-traumatic stress score (p=0.015); and a further 13% in depression score (p=0.014). No associations were found with demographic factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that acute mental health status is more strongly related to parent mental health outcomes than morphology and procedure-related variables in children undergoing neonatal cardiac surgery, and that demographic variables are not associated with mental health outcomes.
Keywords: Cardiac; Congenital Heart Disease (CHD); Pediatric