Parent Psychological and Physical Health Outcomes in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

Background Parents of children undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are at risk of adverse health outcomes due to their intense caregiver demands. Objective The aim of this study was to describe adverse health outcomes in parents of children who survived an allogeneic HSCT done within the past 1 to 10 years. Methods This cross-sectional study, conducted at a children's hospital in the western United States, enrolled English- and Spanish-speaking parents of children who survived allogeneic HSCT between 2005 and 2015. Outcome measures included Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventories, Perceived Stress and Parent Stress Scales, Physical Symptom Inventory, and Short-Form 36 version 2. Parent scores were compared with normative means. Subsequently, the parent sample was stratified by the amount of time since their child's HSCT for comparison between groups. Results Fifty-four mothers and 7 fathers (n = 61) were enrolled. Global mental health scores were lower for parents in the sample compared with norms (P = .003). Parents in the sample reported moderate anxiety and depression (20% and 23%, respectively), yet reported less parenting stress and superior health outcomes compared with norms (P
Source: Cancer Nursing - Category: Nursing Tags: ARTICLES Source Type: research