The effect of in-hospital follow-up on early post-transfer distress in families of patients in pediatric intensive care unit

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Source: Frontiers Medicine

Original: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2025.1706926...

Published: 2026-01-14T00:00:00Z

The study investigated the effect of hospital follow-up on post-intensive care syndrome in the families of 88 children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Hunan Children's Hospital from January 1 to September 30, 2023. The control group received routine nursing intervention, the experimental group additionally received communication from a special team (ward, head nurse, chief resident, nurses, and physician) that took place face-to-face during the day transfer of the child to another department and 3 days after it. The effects were evaluated with the C-PICSQ questionnaire, the DASS-21 scale and the CCFSS within 30 minutes after the intervention. Before the intervention, there were no statistical differences between the groups in DASS-21 and CCFSS scores (p > 0.05). Three days after transfer, the experimental group had a lower C-PICSQ score (16.25 ± 3.93) compared to the control group (33.25 ± 5.97), a lower DASS-21 score (17.91 ± 2.18) compared to the control group (34.77 ± 5.30), and a higher CCFSS score (80.91 ± 9.64) compared to the control group (37.89), with statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). Hospital follow-up reduced post-PICU syndrome in family members, reduced depression, anxiety, and stress in parents, and improved family satisfaction.