The following is a summary of “Poorer Caregiver Mental and Social Health Is Associated With Worse Respiratory Outcomes in Preschool Children With Recurrent Wheezing,” published in the June 2023 issue of Allergy and Clinical Immunology by Fitzpatrick et al.
Preliminary research has been conducted on the mental and social health of preschool-aged children’s caregivers, but it may impact the recognition and treatment of respiratory symptoms. Based on patient-reported outcome measures, the goal is to identify preschool caregivers at the highest risk for adverse mental and social health outcomes. Female caregivers 18 to 50 years old (N = 129) with a 12- to 59-month-old preschool child with recurrent wheezing and at least one exacerbation in the preceding year completed eight validated patient-reported outcome measures of mental and social health.
K-means cluster analysis was undertaken using each instrument’s T score. The caregiver-child pairs were observed for six months. Primary outcomes included caregiver quality of life and preschool children’s asthmatic episodes. There were identified three categories of caregivers: low risk (n = 38), moderate risk (n = 56), and high risk (n = 35). The high-risk cluster had the lowest levels of life satisfaction, meaning and purpose, and emotional support and the highest levels of social isolation, depression, hostility, perceived stress, and anxiety lasting at least six months. This cluster had the lowest quality of life and social determinants of health disparities.
Preschoolers of high-risk caregivers had more frequent respiratory symptoms and a higher incidence of wheezing episodes but utilized fewer outpatient physicians for treatment. Preschoolers’ respiratory outcomes are influenced by their caregivers’ mental and social health. Routine evaluations of caregivers’ cognitive and social health are warranted to promote health equity and enhance preschoolers’ wheezing outcomes.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213219823002271
