Dawn M Ireland
CDH International, USA
Title: Parent opinion in medical care for congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Biography
Biography: Dawn M Ireland
Abstract
Purpose: To assess the opinions of parents of children born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia on how well the medical professionals cared for and communicated with the patients and their families.
Methods: We reviewed the results of our survey for 161 patients between the years 1995 and 2017. This study included 53 female survivors, 64 male survivors, 27 female non-survivors, and 17 male non-survivors. Parents were asked basic subjective questions on how well they felt they were treated and how well they were informed of their child’s diagnosis.
Results: 90.6% of survivors’ and 77.3% of non-survivors’ parents said they felt the hospital staff did well in taking care of the patient and involved the parents in the decision making process. 3.4% survivors’ and 15.9% of non-survivors’ parents responded negatively. A total of 6.2% either didn’t respond or had no comment. When asked if the parent was given enough information about their child’s diagnosis, 76.9% of parents of survivors and 68.2% of parents of non-survivors answered affirmatively. 19.7% of survivors’ and 27.3% of non-survivors’ parents responded in the negative. 3.8% either had no comment or did not respond. The participants were then asked if the patient’s doctor explained the diagnosis in terms they could easily understand. Of the non-survivor’s families, 77.3% said “yes” and 15.9% said “no.” Of the survivor’s families, 88% responded “yes” and 6.8% “no.” The remaining 6.2% of both survivors and non-survivors either did not know or had no comment.
Conclusion: The vast majority of respondents agreed that their hospital experience was sufficient, there is still room to improve within the field of medical professionals. Our collected data can offer important insight into which hospitals need development and which institutions can be models for such development.