Associations of Participation-Focused Strategies and Rehabilitation Service Use With Caregiver Stress After Pediatric Critical Illness

OBJECTIVE(S): Determine the associations between having participation-focused strategies and receiving rehabilitation services in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with caregiver stress over 6 months post-PICU discharge. DESIGN: Substudy of a data from Wee-Cover, a prospective cohort study. SETTING: Two PICU sites. PARTICIPANTS: Caregivers (N=168) of children 1-17 years old admitted into a PICU for ≥48 hours. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Data were collected from caregivers at enrollment and 3 and 6 months post-PICU discharge. Caregiver stress was assessed using the Pediatric Inventory for Parents. Having strategies to support their child's participation in home-based activities was assessed using the Participation and Environment Measure (PEM). In PEM, caregivers report on strategies used to support their child's participation in home-based activities. Data were dichotomized (yes, no) to denote having participation-focused strategies and if their child received PICU rehabilitation services. Additional covariates were history of a preexisting condition, child age, length of PICU stay, and change in functional capacities at PICU discharge. RESULTS: History of a preexisting condition, time, and change in functional capacities significantly predicted caregiver stress frequency and difficulty. The interaction of having strategies-by-rehabilitation-by-time significantly predicted caregiver stress frequency and difficulty. CONCLUSION(S): Results highlight the role of early rehabilitation and the importance of working with caregivers to develop participation-focused strategies to support their child's functioning post-PICU. Families of children with a preexisting condition or those who experience a decrease in function during a PICU stay are susceptible to higher levels of stress and may be a priority population to target for rehabilitation services.