Associations Between Parental Occupational Balance, Subjective Health, and Clinical Characteristics of VLBW Infants

Frontiers in Pediatrics

article

Mona Dür¹  Anna Röschel¹  Christiane Oberleitner-Leeb²  Verena Herrmanns⁴  Elisabeth Pichler-Stachl⁶  Barbara Mattner⁷  Silvia-Desiree Pernter⁸  Martin Wald⁸  Berndt Urlesberger⁶  Herbert Kurz⁴  Thomas Frischer⁹  Karl Zwiauer^1,10  Inu Sarah Matter²  Angelika Berger² 

[1] Department of Health Sciences, IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems;Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Pediatric Intensive Care and Neuropediatrics, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics, Medical University of Vienna;Duervation;Department of Pediatrics, Clinic Donaustadt;Department of Pediatrics With Neonatology, St. Josef Hospital Vienna;Division of Neonatology, Department for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Graz;Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Pediatric Intensive Care, Wilhelminen Hospital;Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital Salzburg;Faculty for Medicine, Sigmund Freud University;University Hospital for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Hospital St. Pölten;Karl Landsteiner University for Health Sciences

关键词: preterm infants;    neonatal intensive care;    mixture of activities;    informal caregivers;    neonatology and pediatric intensive care;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fped.2022.816221

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Objective Very low birthweight (VLBW) infants have an increased risk of mortality and frequently suffer from complications, which affects parental occupational balance. Occupational balance is the satisfaction with one's meaningful activities, which include everyday activities that people need to, want to, and are expected to do. In contrast to work-life balance, the construct of occupational balance addresses different activities equally and it applies to all persons, regardless of whether they are working or not. Parental occupational balance might be related to parents' and VLBW infants' health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate associations between parental occupational balance, subjective health, and clinical characteristics of VLBW infants. Methods A cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted in six Austrian neonatal intensive care units. Occupational balance and subjective health of parents of VLBW infants were assessed with six self-reported questionnaires. The following clinical characteristics of VLBW infants were extracted from medical records: gestational age, birthweight, Apgar scores, Clinical Risk for Babies II Score, and complications of prematurity. Spearman's rank coefficients were calculated. Results In total, 270 parents, 168 (62%) female and their VLBW infants, 120 (44%) female, were included in this study. Parents' mean age was 33.7 (±6.0) years, mean gestational age of VLBW infants was 27 + 3 (±2) weeks. Associations between parental occupational balance, subjective health, and clinical characteristics of VLBW infants were identified ( r s = 0.13 – 0.56; p ≤ 0.05), such as the correlation between occupational areas ( r s = 0.22, p ≤ 0.01), occupational characteristics ( r s = 0.17, p = 0.01), and occupational resilience ( r s = 0.18, p ≤ 0.01) with bronchopulmonary dysplasia of VLBW infants. Conclusion Occupational balance is associated with parents' and VLBW infants' health. Interventions to strengthen parental occupational balance might increase parental health and thereby also improve health and developmental outcomes of their VLBW infants.

【 授权许可】

CC BY