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. 2024 Oct 12;16(10):e71304.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.71304. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Challenges Faced by Parents of Children With Selective Mutism in Accessing Medical Care Services

Tomohisa Yamanaka  1   2 , Kengo Yuruki  1   3 , Taro Okano  1   4 , Masahiko Inoue  5
Affiliations

Challenges Faced by Parents of Children With Selective Mutism in Accessing Medical Care Services

Tomohisa Yamanaka et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background Children with selective mutism (SM) typically exhibit SM symptoms in educational settings, which has led to extensive research on SM in such environments. However, SM symptoms also manifest in medical settings, where parents experience various challenges when seeking healthcare for their child with SM. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on the specific challenges parents face when seeking medical care for their child with SM. In this study, we investigated the challenges faced by parents of children with SM when seeking healthcare services and explored strategies to reduce these challenges. Methodology In this study, we conducted an online questionnaire survey with 31 parents (mean age: 41.7 years) of children diagnosed with SM. Participants responded to open-ended questions about the difficulties they faced when seeking medical care for their child. The open-ended responses were qualitatively analyzed using the KJ method. Results Parents of children with SM reported the most challenges accessing medical services in pediatrics and dentistry. The analysis identified the following three main challenges parents face when seeking medical care for their child with SM: "Journey to Receiving Treatment," "Physicians' Inability to Accurately Capture the Child's Condition," and "Healthcare Providers' Responses." Conclusions These findings highlight the numerous challenges faced by parents of children with SM when seeking medical services for their child. The challenges faced by parents when bringing their child with SM to medical facilities may be alleviated through the implementation of telemedicine, the development of mobile health applications, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the introduction of SM-specific training programs for healthcare professionals.

Keywords: barriers to healthcare; healthcare survey; parent; qualitative analysis; selective mutism.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Ethical Review Committee of Tottori University School of Medicine issued approval 21A174. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. KJ method analysis results for the category “Journey to Receiving Treatment.”
The fourth-level category represents the broadest theme, while the third-level category breaks this down into more specific areas of focus. Each second-level category then further narrows these areas into specific themes, and the first-level categories represent sub-themes or individual aspects related to these themes. The numbers represent the number of segments that mentioned the content belonging to each category, and the numbers in parentheses indicate the percentage of the total number of segments within the group.
Figure 2
Figure 2. KJ method analysis results for the category “Physicians; Inability to Accurately Capture the Child’s Condition.”
The numbers represent the number of segments that mentioned the content belonging to each category, and the numbers in parentheses indicate the percentage of the total number of segments within the group.
Figure 3
Figure 3. KJ method analysis results for the category “Healthcare Providers’ Responses.”
The numbers represent the number of segments that mentioned the content belonging to each category, and the numbers in parentheses indicate the percentage of the total number of segments within the group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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