Complicated Grief, Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Bereaved Parents following their Child's Death in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Follow-Up Study.
Markita Suttle, Mark W Hall, Murray M Pollack and 10 others
PMID 33949217WHAT IT FOUND
Bereaved parents’ complicated grief, depression and PTSD scores fell from 6 to 13 months after a child’s PICU death.
Still, 52.3% screened positive for complicated grief, and sudden unexpected death and Black race were associated with higher depression.
Key findings
01Mental health symptoms decreased among bereaved parents between 6 and 13 months.
02At 13 months, 52.3% of parents still screened positive for complicated grief.
03Higher 13-month depression scores were independently associated with Black race, higher attachment anxiety and sudden unexpected death.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 15% of eligible families completed surveys at 13 months, so the results may not represent all bereaved parents. Parents who completed the 13-month survey were more likely to be married and had lower complicated grief at 6 months, which may underestimate symptoms at 13 months. The questionnaires were screening tools, not diagnostic for complicated grief, depression or PTSD. All children died in large academic pediatric intensive care units, so findings may not apply to parents whose children die in other locations such as hospital wards or home hospice care. The score changes were statistically significant but relatively small, and 6-month scores contributed much of the prediction in the later models.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the score decreases as evidence that most parents no longer have complicated grief. At 13 months, 52.3% still screened positive, and the questionnaires were screening tools, not diagnostic.