Parenting After Infant Congenital Heart Defect Diagnosis

NCT ID: NCT01503307

Last Updated: 2019-10-25

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Total Enrollment: 23 participants
• Study Classification: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2009-01-31
• Study Completion Date: 2016-07-31

Brief Summary

The purpose of this research study is to learn about parents' experiences following diagnosis of a fetal/neonatal Congenital Heart Defect (CHD). Nurses, physicians, and other health-care clinicians will benefit from an improved understanding of what the diagnosis means to parents and what they expect concerning the infant, being a parent, and caregiving tasks and responsibilities. The investigators expect that the knowledge gained will increase clinicians' ability to respond to parents' needs.

Detailed Description

Parental mental health status is linked to the development and quality of caregiving, as well as physiological and psychosocial outcomes for the infant/child with a heart defect.

This is an evolving population of parents with most challenged prenatally with a fetal diagnosis and later as caregivers for medically complex infants. Parents with pre- and postnatally diagnosed infants are at risk for sub-optimal mental health. Parents' experiences and needs differ by timing of diagnosis.

Several gaps in the literature exist. First, advances in technology raise questions about how becoming a caregiver is experienced considering the timing of the diagnosis. Second, little is known about how the timing of the diagnosis could influence parents' mental health status and caregiving after diagnosis. Finally, more study is needed to identify the type, timing and duration of intervention to support these parents as caregivers and optimize their infants' health.

Data collected for this study included demographic and health information (from parents and infant health records), measures of distress (symptoms of depression, anxiety and trauma), and interviews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents in person in the hospital and home settings. Interviews with each couple in the prenatally diagnosed group were conducted once during the third trimester of pregnancy and once within 12 weeks after birth. Interviews with each couple or mother in the postnatally diagnosed group were conducted once within 12 weeks after birth. Interviews lasted 1-3 hours, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Field notes were also written and audio recorded for use in analysis.

Directed content analysis has been used to describe parents' experiences and caregiving motivations in relation to parental distress and severity of infant illness. Analysis of data is ongoing. Additional analyses are expected to further improve knowledge on the differing needs of parents of pre- and postnatally diagnosed infants, as well as parents' experiences and caregiving motivations in the context of discharge from tertiary care.

Conditions

Congenital Heart Disease

Study Design

• Observational Model Type: CASE_ONLY
• Study Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE

Study Groups

Prenatal/Postpartum CHD Diagnosis

parent of a baby (prenatal or postpartum)who was recently found to have a heart defect.

No interventions assigned to this group

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• at least 18 years old
• English speaking and reading
• not known to have a mental illness or cognitive deficit

• prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of a complex CHD that requires surgical repair or palliation early in the infant's life (i.e., tetralogy of Fallot, atrial-ventricular canal, ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, tricuspid atresia, hypoplastic right or left heart, or other complex condition). Infants will not be excluded if they also have congenital syndromes or extra-cardiac defects.

Exclusion Criteria

• no CHD diagnosis

• Maximum Eligible Age: 12 Weeks
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Children's Hospital and Health System Foundation, Wisconsin

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Wisconsin, Madison

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Minnesota

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Medical College of Wisconsin

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Karen Pridham, PhD, RN

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Anne C McKechnie, PhD, RN

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Locations

University of Wisconsin Madison

Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

GC 728

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

CHW 08/160

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id