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. 2019 Jul;58(8):837-850.
doi: 10.1177/0009922819843639. Epub 2019 Apr 21.

Impact of Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Confirmed Hospitalizations on Caregivers of US Preterm Infants

Robin M Pokrzywinski  1 , Laura L Swett  1 , Pia S Pannaraj  2   3 , Jumi Yi  4 , Melissa S Pavilack  5 , Veena R Kumar  5 , Kimmie K McLaurin  5
Affiliations

Impact of Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Confirmed Hospitalizations on Caregivers of US Preterm Infants

Robin M Pokrzywinski et al. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2019 Jul.

Abstract

This study assessed the impact of respiratory syncytial virus-confirmed hospitalizations (RSVH) on caregivers of high-risk preterm infants. Caregivers for infants born at 29 to 35 weeks' gestational age and hospitalized for confirmed RSV disease responded to measures of self-rated and perceived infant stress (1-7; 7 = very stressful), perceived infant health (0-100; 100 = best imaginable health), and productivity impairment. Data were collected at hospital discharge through 1 month post-discharge. Caregiver responses indicated high stress levels, poor health, and productivity loss were reported at discharge; however, steady improvements were seen through 1 month post-discharge: caregiver-rated stress (from 6 to 2), infant stress (5 to 1), caregiver-perceived infant health (64 to 84), and productivity loss (mothers: 91% to 31%; fathers: 81% to 18%). Qualitative results indicated emotional impact, family routine disruption, financial concerns, and medical concerns persisted at 1 month post-discharge. This study found the caregiver burden of RSVH persists at least 1 month beyond discharge.

Keywords: caregiver burden; hospitalization; infant; preterm; respiratory syncytial virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Robin Pokrzywinski and Laura Swett are employees of Evidera, a contract research organization that received funds from AstraZeneca to conduct these analyses. Pia Pannaraj has received personal compensation for research support from AstraZeneca/MedImmune during the conduct of the study, and research support from Pfizer. Jumi Yi has received personal compensation from AstraZeneca/MedImmune for participation in speaker bureau activities. Veena Kumar was an employee of AstraZeneca at the time the study was completed. Melissa Pavilack and Kimmie McLaurin are employees of AstraZeneca.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Caregiver rating of stress, past 7 days.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Caregiver rating of current infant health.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Work Productivity Assessment Inventory in Caregivers of Children Hospitalized for Respiratory Illness (WPAI:CHRI) results. Panel A, Mothers; Panel B, Fathers.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Caregiver-reported impact of infant’s RSVH. Caregiver responses could be grouped into multiple impact themes so the percentage at each time point will be >100%. More than one caregiver could provide responses for an infant.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Caregiver-reported impact of infant’s RSVH by gestational age group. The caregiver comments by wGA (weeks’ gestational age) cohort included 311 caregiver comments from the 29 to 32 wGA group, 283 comments from the 33 to 34 wGA group, and 148 comments from the 35 wGA group.
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