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Published on: April 7, 2023
[The struggle for survival of the child discharged from intensive care]
Ivone Evangelista Cabral1, Jaqueline de Jesus da Silva, Danielle de Oliveira Zillmann
1Departamento de Enfermagem Materno Infantil da EEAN/UFRJ. icabral@superig.com.br
Insights
Children discharged from pediatric intensive care units often require specialized home care. This study identified children with special care needs and their frequent hospital readmissions, highlighting the need for improved post-discharge support.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric critical care medicine
- Public health epidemiology
Context:
- Pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) have improved survival rates for critically ill children.
- However, families often lack training for specialized home care needs of these children.
- This gap impacts quality of life and leads to frequent hospital readmissions.
Purpose:
- To investigate the characteristics of children with special care needs post-PICU discharge.
- To analyze hospitalization patterns, including duration, frequency, and diagnoses.
- To inform strategies for better post-discharge care and quality of life.
Summary:
- An epidemiological study analyzed 1355 children (29 days to 12 years) from 1994-1999 in Rio de Janeiro.
- 6.3% (85 children) were identified as having special care needs.
- These children experienced prolonged hospitalizations (up to 60 days) and multiple diagnoses indicating chronic conditions.
Impact:
- Identifies a significant population of children with ongoing health needs after intensive care.
- Highlights the need for enhanced family training and support systems for children with special care needs.
- Data can guide healthcare policy to improve long-term outcomes and reduce readmission rates.
Abstract:
Pediatric intensive care units have significantly reduced childhood morbidity and mortality, and have generated a group of children with special care needs. The common sense family care they receive at home however has not been trained to attend to them, interfering in their quality of life and causing frequent returns to hospital. To know about discharge from intensive care is to go beyond survival and to also offer a better quality of life. To this end we developed an epidemiological method in two public health care facilities in Rio de Janeiro, to investigate the time and number of hospitalizations and type and quantity of diagnosis between 1994-1999, with children aged from 29 days to 12 years. The results show that 6.3% (85) of 1355 hospitalized children were considered with special care needs, with 9 hospitalizations of up to 60 days. To each hospitalization can be added one or two basic diagnoses revealing chronic conditions.
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