Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Children with a Developmental Disability and Co-occurring Medical Conditions

Linking heart and mind - lived experiences of parents to children with congenital heart disease and mental health issues

Children with congenital heart disease are more likely to receive special educational services in schools and have an increased risk of mental health issues. We explored the lived experiences of parents caring for a child with heart disease and concurrent mental health issues in Denmark. Semi-structured interviews with ten parents (age 39-57 years) to these children (age 5-17 years) were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three Group Experiential Themes (GETs) were generated from the analysis: The first GET, Parental roles and caring behaviours, described parental struggles of fulfilling their parenting role ideals and experiences with stigmatization of MHI. GET two, Parental reflections on their illness explanations, portrayed how parents utilize different illness explanations to make sense of their child's MHI. GET three, Differences in access to help and support, captured how the CHD affected overall access to mental health support. The results may inform various topics of importance for health professionals to address in their clinical encounters with these families.

Parental Perceptions and Usage of Unlicensed Cannabidiol Products in Children With Anxiety and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

OBJECTIVE

Data evaluating the use of unlicensed cannabidiol (CBD) products for the treatment of -symptoms associated with anxiety and neurodevelopmental disorders in children are limited despite increasing -product availability. The objectives of this study are to quantify the usage of unlicensed CBD products among pediatric patients diagnosed with anxiety and neurodevelopmental disorders and compare the -perceptions of CBD between parents who administer a CBD product to a child and parents who do not.

METHODS

A survey containing 31 items was designed after pretesting with pediatric health care professionals. The refined survey was distributed using Qualtrics Panels to a representative sample of US parents of a child 7 to 18 years of age diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and/or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Responses were analyzed with descriptive -statistics and compared using a χ2 or Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS

Of the 518 completed surveys, 162 parents (31.3%) reported the administration of an unlicensed CBD product to a child with ADHD, ASD, and/or GAD. The highest prevalence of use was found in the West geographic region and among children diagnosed with GAD or with 2 or more diagnoses (i.e., ADHD, ASD, GAD). Parents who administered CBD products had more positive views of product safety and higher -perceived community support for usage.

CONCLUSIONS

Nearly one-third of parents have administered an unlicensed CBD product to a child with ADHD, ASD, and GAD. Health care providers should assess pediatric patients for CBD use and be prepared to engage parents in conversations regarding the safety of these products.

Traditional Korean Medicine Usage and Perception: a comparative study between the general population and the disabilities

Objectives

This study is a comparative analysis of the satisfaction and recognition characteristics for traditional Korean medicine (TKM) in people with disabilities and the general population of Korea.

Methods

Here, 5,000 subjects were categorized into two groups based on a disability rating using the data from the 2017 National Survey for the Usage of Korean Medicine. The relationships among the sociodemographic characteristics, TKM usage status, recognition of TKM usage, and recognition of the effectiveness of the TKM treatment were analyzed based on the disease. The response reliability was verified using the chi-square test analysis method.

Results

Disabilities corresponded with low rates of high school or higher education (44%, 83.5%) and no jobs (56.9%, 33.5%), mostly the status of the low-income class with a monthly household income of < 1,500 USD (50.9%, 10.5%), poor health conditions (55.2%, 9.8%), high chronic disease prevalence rate (69.0%, 19.9%), high medical care rate (11.2%, 0.5%), and low commercial health insurance subscription rate (44%, 74.2%). Furthermore, people with disabilities visited TKM institutions more often (88.8%, 74.1%) with a high frequency TKM usage rate of ≥ 1-2 times a month (26.2%, 15.3%). They also reported that the cost of using the TKM was very high (14.7%, 8.8%) and that primarily the application of insurance benefits should be improved (52.6%, 47.5%). The treatment effectiveness for diseases was high for musculoskeletal disorders for both people with disabilities and the general population.

Conclusion

Preferential application of insurance benefits for musculoskeletal diseases must be extended to the TKM treatment as well, as people with disabilities have a high recognition for these conditions with TKM. It is difficult to perform randomized controlled trials on people with disability. Therefore, large-scale observational and cohort studies should be conducted. We hope this study will help establish a suitable TKM policy for people with disabilities.

Gastrointestinal concerns in children with autism spectrum disorder: A qualitative study of family experiences

LAY ABSTRACT

Gastrointestinal problems are common in the autism spectrum disorder community and may affect both the person with autism spectrum disorder and their families. However, little research is available on the experiences of families who have a child with both autism spectrum disorder and gastrointestinal symptoms. We held one-on-one interviews with 12 parents of children who had both autism spectrum disorder and gastrointestinal symptoms. We analyzed the raw text responses from these interviews and identified four main themes. First, parents shared that their children had trouble verbally communicating when they were experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms (Theme 1). This led parents to use bodily signs, such as changes in the stool, and non-verbal behaviors, such as irritability, to recognize when their child was having gastrointestinal symptoms. Next, gastrointestinal issues affected both the child's well-being and their ability to attend class and extracurricular or social activities (Theme 2). The gastrointestinal issues also affected the family's routines, overall well-being, and their ability to go out and do activities together as a family (Theme 3). Finally, parents often had challenges receiving accessible and quality healthcare for their child's gastrointestinal problems (Theme 4). Together, these findings highlight the enormous burden that gastrointestinal symptoms have on the wellness of children with autism spectrum disorder and their families.