Parent’s Post-traumatic Stress before and after their Infant’s Second Palliative Heart Surgery: The PatHS Descriptive Correlational Longitudinal Study

One percent of infants born have CHD making it the most common congenital anomaly. Of those infants born with CHD, 1% have a functionally single ventricle. This type of heart defect requires three palliative heart surgeries, the first within seven days of birth, the second at 4-6 months, and the third at 2-5 years of age. Parents endure emotional trauma from witnessing their child in life-sustaining care, experiencing reoccurring hospitalizations, and the evolving reality of having a child with a chronic illness. Parent trauma impacts typical experiences for the parent and the infant resulting in impaired coping, bonding, and confidence. The infant may have problems with feeding or neurodevelopment. Parents with unresolved trauma may be less engaged in medical care, which is a predictor of later infant outcomes. The purpose of this study is to describe the levels of parent post-traumatic stress before and after their infant’s second palliative surgery for SVCHD. A descriptive correlational, longitudinal design was used. The post-traumatic stress disorder checklist revised for the DSM-5 (PCL-5) was administered via Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) to 22 parents before and after the second palliative heart surgery. Descriptive statistics were used to evaluate and describe the demographic data and the level of post-traumatic stress at the two-time points. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to determine the relationship between the two PCL-5 scores. There were positive PCL-5 scores present pre-surgery and post-surgery. Most of the scores (n=13, 59%) decreased between surgery one and two, although we did not have the statistical power to make definitive conclusions from the data. An inverse association between the PCL-5 scores and income and level of education was noted. The timing of the surveys introduced many factors beyond the control of the study team. Future research should seek scores at consistent time points not bound by surgery.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Nursing (UMKC)

Grantor

University of Missouri--Kansas City

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Elliott, Melissa Deanna Hatch

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Chrisman, Matthew

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10355/93813

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mospace.umsystem.edu:10355/93813