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Multicenter Study
. 2022 Jun;78(6):1676-1687.
doi: 10.1111/jan.15128. Epub 2021 Dec 13.

Symptoms of depression in parents after discharge from NICU associated with family-centred care

Anna Axelin  1   2 , Nancy Feeley  3   4 , Marsha Campbell-Yeo  5 , Bente Silnes Tandberg  6 , Tomasz Szczapa  7 , Joke Wielenga  8 , Janne Weis  9 , Anita Pavicic Bosnjak  10   11 , Rakel B Jonsdottir  12 , Kendall George  13 , Ylva T Blomqvist  14   15 , Kajsa Bohlin  16   17 , Liisa Lehtonen  18   19 ; Separation, Closeness Experiences in Neonatal Environment (SCENE) research group
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Symptoms of depression in parents after discharge from NICU associated with family-centred care

Anna Axelin et al. J Adv Nurs. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the potential association of family-centred care as perceived by parents during a NICU stay with parents' depressive symptoms at discharge and at 4 months corrected for infant age.

Design: A longitudinal, multicentre cohort study was conducted from 2018 to 2020 in 23 NICUs across 15 countries.

Methods: Parents (n = 635 mothers, n = 466, fathers) of infants (n = 739) born before 35 weeks of gestation and admitted to the participating NICUs were enrolled to the study during the first weeks of their infants' hospitalizations. They responded to Digi-FCC daily text messages inquiring about their perception of family-centred care provided by NICU staff. In addition, they completed a questionnaire assessing their overall perception of family-centred care at discharge. Parents' depressive symptoms were measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at discharge and again after discharge when their infants were at 4 months corrected for age.

Results: The mothers' and the fathers' perceptions of family-centred care were associated with their depressive symptoms at discharge and at 4 months corrected age, controlling for gestational age, multiple birth, parent education and relationship status. Parents' participation in infant care, care-related decisions and emotional support provided to parents by staff explained the variation in the parents' perceptions of family-centred care. The factors facilitating the implementation of family-centred care included unlimited access to the unit for the parents and for their significant others, as well as amenities for parents.

Conclusions: Our study shows that family-centred NICU care associates with parents' depressive symptoms after a NICU stay.

Impact: Depression is common in parents of preterm infants. The provision of family-centred care may protect the mental well-being of parents of preterm infants.

Keywords: depression; family-centred care; health promotion; intensive care units; longitudinal study; neonatal parents; nursing; predictive research; preterm infant; prospective cohort.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.

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References

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