Research Paper on Losing A Child

In the article, Acute Illnesses, Use of Health Services, and Changes in Medication Among Parents After Infant or Child Death, the authors discuss the findings that affect parents after a sentinel event as traumatic as the loss of an infant or child, parents are much more susceptible to a number of different diseases as well as health risks. A parent losing a child can be one of the hardest things they endure in their lifetime, and researchers often see a spike in the number of hospitalizations, changes in medications, or acute illnesses in these parents, This article focuses on the findings of a study that was conducted to study these trends within a 1-13 month span of after losing a child.

In a study that was conducted out of Florida, researchers collected data on patients who had lost their child after at least one hour of them being admitted into either the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit), or other emergency department setting. This particular study focused on individuals who had children over the age of 18 and those who could speak either English or Spanish. Once the participants were selected, the research began. A big step in this study was looking at online databases and obtaining basic information on the participants as well as reading the obituaries of the littles ones who passed. The process of this study went to a timely schedule to ensure that the families had some time to grieve. The study was initiated to the patients about 7 weeks after the loss of their child when they received a letter in the mail that described the study they had been chosen for and asked for a time to be set up to meet in person. This gave the families an opportunity to ask any questions they may have had and for the researchers to obtain demographic information as well as consent. Researchers informed the participants that at  1, 3, 6, and 13 months after losing their child, they would be asked to report any acute illnesses, hospitalization, and medication changes. The data was collected over those 13 months and split based on paternal role to avoid dependency on the trends and results were determined.

After the 13-month research was concluded, the data obtained was further studied to determine specific trends based on race, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, and information on how and where the death of the infant occurred. Out of the 96  participants, the research found that the most amount of child deaths occurred in an ICU, and the most frequently recorded mode of death was failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and limitation of treatment. The study then shifted focus on the parents and what death-related complications had arisen following the loss of their child. It was reported that more than half of the mothers that were surveyed had pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and arthritis. After the death has occurred, the most common new acute complications that were reported included headaches, infection, pains, anxiety, and gastrointestinal problems. Among the selected fathers in the study, the findings were similar to those found of the mother. Infection was the most common acute illness that was reported. When observing the number of medication changes that were reported, the researchers considered any new medications added that may have been added to their regime and any changes to the dose of the medications. Among the mothers that participated in the study, there were a total of 124 changes reported, 83% of which were new medications added, 8% increased in doses, and 9% were decreased dosages at the beginning of the study.  The trends reported within the fathers who participated were significantly lower, with only 20 medication changes reported.  As time went on, researchers saw a decrease in these trends and then a significant increase around the 1 year anniversary of the death of the child, as this can pose stressful times for the family.

When looking at how race and socioeconomic status can affect these findings, the researchers took a look at the three ethnicities that were involved in the study, black non-Hispanic, white non-Hispanic, and Hispanic, and compared the outcomes of the findings. They looked for common trends in how many changes were observed, the time period after the death that the changes occurred, and the types of changes that were reported. At the end of the study, the researchers concluded that the most changes in all categories occurred by month 6 of the grieving process. Total findings showed that black non-Hispanics had more total acute illnesses than Hispanics, white non-Hispanics had a greater amount of medication changes compared to Hispanics. Direct findings of the study are to follow: “The greatest number of medication changes occurred in month 4 for white non-Hispanic parents and for Hispanic parents and in month 5 for black non-Hispanic parents. The total number of medication changes through 6 and through 13 months were not significantly different across groups” (Acute Illnesses, 198). This proves that the loss of a child has very similar effects on a person regardless of their ethnicity. No matter what their background is like, losing a child will be difficult for anyone. 

In conclusion, this study has proven that parents who have lost a child, regardless of age, are at a much greater risk for developing illnesses and there is a higher chance of them needing medical care. The severe trauma that comes with this event makes parents and even other families at an increased susceptibility to their own health problems, possibly due to the lack of self-care during the grieving process. High levels of stress can eventually pose problems with different body systems which causes the development of health problems. The patterns in this study prove that healthcare professionals will play a big role in the family’s life even after the loss of the child and help ensure the parents increase in health following the event.