Study finds impact of paediatric critical illness on absenteeism

A recent study has analyzed the connection between children and their parents, who survive critical illness and their prolonged absences from school and/or work.

The study revealed that the children and parents who survive severe illness, commonly experience physical, emotional, and cognitive conditions as a result of the critical illness. This often result in prolonged absences from school and/or work. The results of the study were published in the 'JAMA Network'.

What has not been fully understood is the rate and duration of school absences among these children and work absences among their caregivers.

A secondary analysis of a randomized trial of paediatric patients hospitalized for acute respiratory failure has shed important light on the subject.

The study found that nearly 70 per cent of paediatric patients missed an average of two five-day school weeks post hospital discharge and half of their primary caregivers missed an average of eight workdays post hospital discharge.

The findings suggested a risk for negative downstream educational, financial, and health outcomes for patients and added stress and financial risk for their parents.

"This study suggests that post-PICU school absenteeism is an important target for future interventions including understanding the barriers to school participation, development of interventions to mitigate absenteeism, and to help children catch up on missed school," said Martha A.Q. Curley, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) and the senior researcher of the study.

"In addition, given the magnitude of missed work found in our study and the hardships described by parents in prior studies, there is a great need for programs and policies to support families during and after paediatric hospitalization," she added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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