Dr Nikhila Karanth, Dr Nandini Vallath

St. John’s Medical College and Hospital Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Email: nandacprem@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Parents of children with serious illnesses face emotional, physical, social and parenting-related concerns. Early identification of their distress using the Distress Thermometer-Parents can help align them with necessary resources. This study aims to assess the distress levels of parents using the Distress Thermometer-Parents, which includes a score (0–10) and a problem list covering practical, social, emotional, physical, cognitive and parenting domains.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 20 parents of children with serious illnesses admitted to the paediatric haemato-oncology, paediatric surgery and paediatric nephrology wards of a multispeciality academic hospital. Data were collected using the validated Distress Thermometer-Parents through structured interviews. Responses were recorded in Microsoft Excel and analysed.

Results: Fathers reported higher distress levels (mean = 8.90, standard deviation [SD] = 1.45, median = 9.00) compared to mothers (mean = 7.20, SD = 1.03, median = 7.00), indicating a 23.6% higher distress score in fathers. The distribution of domains is as follows: practical (Fathers 69%, mothers 67%) family/social problems (Fathers 34.09%, mothers 50%), emotional concerns (fathers 66.67% mothers 54%), physical problems (fathers 50%, mothers 45.7%) cognitive problems (fathers 18.18% mothers 15%) and parenting problems (fathers 63.64%, mothers 54%). Practical issues, such as finance, work and childcare, were prominent amongst fathers, while mothers faced difficulties related to parenting, emotions and talking about the illness.

Conclusion: The study found that fathers experienced higher distress than mothers, with practical and emotional concerns being the most distressing for both. Identification of the most distressing concerns using distress thermometer-parents allows us to tailor the supportive measures according to the individual family needs, and thus, we recommend routine use of this tool.

Keywords: Distress of parents, seriously ill children, Social, emotional, practical, physical, problems.