Hendy A, El-sayed S, Bakry S, Mohammed SM, Mohamed H, Abdelkawy A, Hassani R, Abouelela MA, Sayed S. The Stress Levels of Premature Infants' Parents and Related Factors in NICU.
SAGE Open Nurs 2024;
10:23779608241231172. [PMID:
38384386 PMCID:
PMC10880535 DOI:
10.1177/23779608241231172]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Revised: 12/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction
Parental stress related to their infants' hospitalization is a significant concern that affects both parents and their infants. Fathers' experiences tend to be understudied compared to mothers. Further research on fathers' stress levels is necessary. While parental stress has been correlated with infant health severity, the specific causes and risk factors contributing to heightened stress levels in parents of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) infants are not yet fully understood and require further investigation.
Objective
This study aimed to examine the stress levels experienced by parents of premature infants in the NICU and to explore the factors associated with parental stress in this specific context.
Methods
A cross-sectional observational design was used to accomplish this study, which was carried out on 743 parents from nine different NICUs located in governmental hospitals across various locations in Egypt. We used characteristics of parents and premature infants, and Parent Stress Scale was used for data collection.
Results
A majority of parents reported experiencing high stress in the following domains: sight and sound (80.3%), infants' appearance (69%), and the parent-infant relationship (81.4%). Additionally, about three-quarters (73.6%) of parents experienced high stress overall, with a mean score of 167.56 (21.3).
Conclusion
About three-quarters of the parents experienced high overall stress levels. Also, factors that were found to affect parents' stress levels included premature infants connected to mechanical ventilators, previous neonatal death, parents living far from hospitals, infants delivered through cesarean section, insufficient income, and prolonged hospitalization beyond 5 days.
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