The Family Impact of Having a Child with a Tracheostomy

Measure the quality of life among families with children with tracheostomies.

We performed a prospective cross-sectional analysis of families with children with tracheostomies utilizing the PedQL Family Impact Module-a validated quality of life assessment. We determined if scores were impacted by demographics using regression analysis. We also compared the tracheostomy sample's scores to a previously published cohort of children with severe cerebral palsy and birth defects that required home nursing or nursing home placement using the student's t-test. We determined the effect size of the difference between the two groups using the Cohen's d test.

Ninety-eight families are included in the study. The average (SD) age of tracheostomy placement was 1.6 (3.5) years. The population was 60% (59/98) male and 39% (38/98) Hispanic. The principal reason for tracheostomy was due to respiratory failure (76 out of 98; 78%). The mean (SD) total Family Impact score was 76 (19). The lowest domain score was daily activity problems, mean (SD) = 67 (30) followed by worry (mean = 69, SD = 24). The lowest question score was, "I worry about my child's future," mean (SD) = 52 (37). When compared to the comparison group of medically fragile children, the scores were statistically similar except for communication totals where tracheostomy patients reported superior scores (78.3 vs. 62.9, 95% CI, -26 to -4.8, P = .005, Cohen's d = -0.66).

The presence of a tracheostomy is associated with QOL scores like other medically fragile children.

4 Laryngoscope, 131:911-915, 2021.