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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04382820

Psychosocial Situation of Children With Rare (Congenital) Pediatric Surgical Diseases and Their Families

Families of children with rare diseases (i.e., not more than 5 out of 10.000 people are affected) are often highly burdened with fears, insecurities and concerns regarding the affected child and his/her siblings. The aim of the present research project is to examine the psychosocial burden of the children with rare (congenital) pediatric surgical diseases and their family in order to draw attention to a possible psychosocial care gap in this population.

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Key information

Age range

1 day–21 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Hamburg, 20246, Germany

About this study

The central objective of the cross-sectional study is to show the psychosocial supply gap for families with children and adolescents affected by rare diseases in the field of pediatric surgery. Among the rare diseases that are included are diaphragmatic hernia, anorectal malformations, esophageal atresia, Hirschsprung's disease and biliary atresia. In order to have a comparative sample, additional data of a matched control group are collected. Central standardized psychosocial outcomes will be assessed from the perspectives of the parents, the affected child and the siblings.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

(families of rare disease):

  • Family with at least one child between 0 and 21 years with a rare pediatric surgical disease.
  • Consent to participate in the study.
  • Sufficient knowledge of the German language of parents and children.

Exclusion criteria

(families of rare disease):

  • Severe acute physical, mental and/or cognitive impairment of the child, so that the questionnaire survey does not appear possible and/or unreasonable at this stage.

Inclusion criteria

(control group):

  • Family with at least one child between 0 and 21 years who have undergone a surgical procedure in the first 3 years of life that does not cause chronic complaints
  • Consent to participate in the study.
  • Sufficient knowledge of the German language of parents and children.

Exclusion criteria

(control group):

  • Families of children with a congenital or chronic disease.

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Quality of life of the parents (ULQIE)

    Time frame: 4 minutes

    Quality of life (QoL) of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Ulmer Lebensqualitätsinventar für Eltern chronisch kranker Kinder" (ULQIE; Goldbeck & Storck, 2002). The instrument consists of 29 items, which are answered on a five-point Likert scale (0 to 4). Higher scores indicate greater QoL.

  2. Mental health of the parents (BSI)

    Time frame: 5 minutes

    Mental health of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Brief Symptom Inventory" (BSI; Franke, 2000). The instrument consists of 53 items, which are answered on a five-point Likert scale (0 to 4). Higher BSI scores indicate greater psychological distress.

  3. Health-related quality of life of the chronically-ill children/adolescents (Peds-QL 4.0)

    Time frame: 4 minutes

    Health-related quality of life of the chronically-ill children/adolescents, assessed from the perspective of the child/adolescent (from 10 years of age) and from the perspective of the parents by the "Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0" (Peds-QL 4.0; (Varni, Seid, & Kurtin, 2001). Items will be linearly transformed to a scale of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better HRQoL.

  4. Psychiatric disorders of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings (SDQ)

    Time frame: 4 minutes

    Psychiatric disorders of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings assessed perspective of the child/adolescent (from 10 years of age) and from the perspective of the parents by the "Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire" (SDQ; Klasen, Woerner, Rothenberger, & Goodman, 2003). Items are rated on a three-point Likert scale (0 to 2). Higher scores represent greater psychopathology or greater prosocial behavior.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Coping of the parents (CHIP-D)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    Coping of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by the German version of the "Coping Health Inventory for Parents" (CHIP-D; McCubbin, McCubbin, Cauble & Goldbeck, 2001). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale (0 to 3). Higher scores represent greater use of the respective coping pattern.

  2. Coping of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings (Kidcope)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    Coping of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and the siblings, assessed from the perspective of the children/adolescents (from 10 years of age) by the "Kidcope Checklist" (Kidcope; Spirito, Stark & Williams, 1988). Items related to frequency of the coping strategies are rated on a 4 point scale (0 = "Not at all" to 3 = "Almost all the time"), and items related to efficacy are rated on a 5 point scale (0 = "Not at all" to 4 = "Very much").

  3. Social support of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and of the siblings (OSSS)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    Social support of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and of the siblings, assessed from the perspective of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and from the sibling, respectively, by the "Oslo Social Support Scale" (OSSS; Dalgard, 2006). The sum score ranges from 3 to 14. The higher the sum score, the stronger the social support.

  4. Sociodemographic information of the parents

    Time frame: 2 minutes

    Sociodemographic information of the parents, assessed from the perspective of the parents by ad-hoc items.

  5. Relationships between siblings (SRQ)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    Sibling relationship, assessed from the perspective of the siblings (from 10 years of age) by the "Sibling Relationship Questionnaire" (Bojanowski, Riestock, Nisslein, Weschenfelder-Stachwitz, & Lehmkuhl, 2015). Each item is scored on a 5-point Likert scale

    (1 to 5).

  6. Family relationships, family dynamics and functionality (FB-A)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    Family relationships, family dynamics and functionality, assessed from the perspective of the parents, of the chronically-ill children/adolescents and from the sibling, respectively by "Familienbögen" (FB-A; Cierpka & Frevert, 1994). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale (0 to 3)

  7. Interpersonal problems (IIP-32)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    Interpersonal problems assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32" (IIP-32; Thomas, Brähler, & Strauß, 2011). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). It provides an overall score and eight subscale scores.

  8. Familial predispositions (FaBel)

    Time frame: 3 minutes

    familial predispositions assessed from the perspective of the parents by the "Familien-Belastungs-Fragebogen" (FaBel; Ravens-Sieberer, 2001). Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (is not right at all) to 4 (is completely right).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2020
Primary completion
2021
Study completion
2021
First posted
May 11, 2020
Registry last updated
Dec 9, 2021

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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