Caregiver Perspectives on Preventing Future Hospitalizations for Children With Medical Complexity

Area of Science:

• Pediatric healthcare
• Caregiver support
• Health services research

Background:

• Children with medical complexity (CMC) experience frequent hospitalizations.
• Caregivers are crucial in reducing hospitalization risks for CMC.
• Understanding caregiver perceptions is key to developing effective support strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between caregiver self-efficacy in managing acute illness and their perception of preventing future hospitalizations in CMC.
• To identify specific conditions where caregivers feel hospitalizations are preventable.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal cohort study analyzed data from 718 caregiver/CMC dyads across 9 sites.
• Caregiver acute illness self-efficacy was measured using scaled survey questions.
• Logistic regression, adjusted for confounders, examined the link between self-efficacy and perceived hospitalization preventability.

Main Results:

• 73.1% of caregivers believed future hospitalizations for their children were preventable.
• High caregiver self-efficacy significantly increased the likelihood of perceiving hospitalizations as preventable (aOR 2.77).
• Caregivers perceived over 50% preventability for most queried conditions, particularly for growth, respiratory, constipation, and pain issues.

Conclusions:

• A majority of caregivers for CMC perceive future hospitalizations as preventable.
• Interventions enhancing caregiver self-efficacy in managing acute illness and specific conditions show promise for reducing hospitalizations.
• Further research should explore targeted self-efficacy interventions for this population.