Healthcare Utilization and Missed Workdays for Parents of Children With Traumatic Brain Injury.
Richard E Nelson, Junjie Ma, Yan Cheng and 3 others
PMID 30608307WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of children with traumatic brain injury missed more work and used more healthcare services than parents of children with other injuries, especially in the first 6 months.
The burden grew with injury severity.
Key findings
01Parents of children with TBI missed 6.23 more days of work in the first 3 months and 13.22 more days in months 3 to 6 than parents of children with other injuries.
02Children with TBI were more likely to have emergency visits in the first 3 months and months 3 to 6, and more likely to use over-the-counter and prescription medications in months 3 to 6.
03Missed work increased with TBI severity. Parents of children with severe TBI missed 14.68 more days in the first 3 months than parents of children with other injuries.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Parents reported healthcare use, travel, and missed work, so recall bias may affect the estimates. The sample came from two pediatric trauma centers in two states, so results may not apply to other regions or healthcare systems. The outcomes were not specific to traumatic brain injury, so some healthcare use and missed work may reflect other injuries or conditions. The national burden estimate depends on incidence rates, wage assumptions, and extrapolation from this cohort, so it should not be treated as a measured clinical outcome. Children with abusive head trauma made up a larger share of severe injuries under 2 years than in some published studies, which may affect generalizability.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the missed-work and healthcare-use differences as proof that traumatic brain injury alone caused them. The study was observational, relied on parent recall, and measured outcomes that were not specific to traumatic brain injury, so other injuries and family factors may contribute.