Abstract
Background: At adolescence, the work and family life of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) subjects were comparable to a normal birth weight (NBW) reference group. Little is known, however, about the impact on families during the transition to adulthood or the long term effect on the health of the parents.
Objective: To compare maternal health and burden of illness on families of ELBW and NBW subjects at young adulthood (YA). Design/Methods: Longitudinal cohort study. Participants: At YA, 130/161 ELBW (81%) and 127/141 NBW (90%) mothers completed questionnaires. Information was obtained through well validated questionnaires and other study questionnaires.
Results: There were no significant differences in scores between groups in marital disharmony, mood, state anxiety, social support, depression, family dysfunction or mothers' physical or mental health (SF36). Within both the ELBW and NBW groups, there were no differences in the above measures between mothers of YA with and without impairments. The impact scores, however, revealed that statistically more mothers of ELBW subjects were negativey affected with respect to their jobs or training opportunities and those of their partners. Mothers of ELBW subjects also reported that the experience of caring for their child brought the family closer together, and that relatives and friends were more helpful and understanding. When families with subjects who had neurosensory impairments were excluded from this analysis, the effects on jobs or training was minimal.
Conclusions: By YA, it appears that apart from a negative impact on their jobs, in comparison to NBW subjects' families, there is little residual impact of having an ELBW child. The negative impact on jobs, however, was reported as being 'in the past' as opposed to 'now.' These results attest to the remarkable resilience of parents.
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Pinelli, J., Saigal, S., Streiner, D. et al. 294 Comparison of Maternal Health & Burden of Illness in Families of Elbw & Normal Birth Weight (NBW) Subjects At Young Adulthood. Pediatr Res 58, 405 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200508000-00323
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200508000-00323
