Associations of Patient and Parent Characteristics With Parental Decision Regret in the PICU: A Secondary Analysis of the 2015-2017 Navigate Randomized Comparative Trial. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2024 Sep 01;25(9):795-803
Date
05/10/2024Pubmed ID
38727516Pubmed Central ID
PMC12230857DOI
10.1097/PCC.0000000000003534Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85203475754 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 9 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVES: To identify self-reported meaningful decisions made by parents in the PICU and to determine patient and parent characteristics associated with the development of parental decision regret, a measurable, self-reported outcome associated with psychologic morbidity.
DESIGN: Secondary analysis of the Navigate randomized comparative trial (NCT02333396).
SETTING: Two tertiary, academic PICUs.
PATIENTS: Spanish- or English-speaking parents of PICU patients aged less than 18 years who were expected to remain in the PICU for greater than 24 hours from time of enrollment or who had a risk of mortality greater than 4% based on Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 score.
INTERVENTIONS: None.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Between April 2015 and March 2017, 233 parents of 209 patients completed a survey 3-5 weeks post-PICU discharge which included the Decision Regret Scale (DRS), a 5-item, 5-point Likert scale tool scored from 0 (no regret) to 100 (maximum regret). Two hundred nine patient/parent dyads were analyzed. The decisions parents reported as most important were categorized as: procedure, respiratory support, medical management, parent-staff interactions and communication, symptom management, fluid/electrolytes/nutrition, and no decision. Fifty-one percent of parents had some decision regret (DRS > 0) with 19% scoring in the moderate-severe range (DRS 26-100). The mean DRS score was 12.7 ( sd 18.1). Multivariable analysis showed that parental Hispanic ethnicity was associated with greater odds ratio (OR 3.12 [95% CI, 1.36-7.13]; p = 0.007) of mild regret. Being parents of a patient with an increased PICU length of stay (LOS) or underlying respiratory disease was associated with greater odds of moderate-severe regret (OR 1.03 [95% CI, 1.009-1.049]; p = 0.004 and OR 2.91 [95% CI, 1.22-6.94]; p = 0.02, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS: Decision regret was experienced by half of PICU parents in the 2015-2017 Navigate study. The characteristics associated with decision regret (parental ethnicity, PICU LOS, and respiratory disease) are easily identifiable. Further study is needed to understand what contributes to regret in this population and what interventions could provide support and minimize the development of regret.
Author List
Ashworth RC, Malone JR, Franklin D, Sorce LR, Clayman ML, Frader J, White DB, Michelson KNAuthor
Rachel Ashworth MD Associate Professor in the Pediatrics department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Child
Child, Preschool
Decision Making
Emotions
Female
Humans
Infant
Intensive Care Units, Pediatric
Male
Parents
Self Report
