Social support provided to caregivers of children with cerebral palsy

OBJECTIVE

To describe the perception of caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP) concerning social support received and to verify how the characteristics of the children (i.e. type of CP and severity of motor impairment) and those of their caregivers (i.e. age, level of education, occupation, income and number of children) are significantly related to this perception.

METHOD

A total of 50 children with CP aged between 3 and 12 years and their respective caregivers participated in this study. Children were grouped in terms of type of CP and according to the severity of motor impairment through the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). The Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ) was used to evaluate the perception of caregivers concerning the social support they receive (number of people offering support - SSQ-N index, and level of satisfaction concerning such support - SSQ-S index).

RESULTS

The caregivers reported receiving support from a mean of 1.67 people. Core and extended family members (i.e. husband, mother, siblings) and friends are the most common providers of support. In regard to level of satisfaction, caregivers considered the support they received to be positive, obtaining a mean of 5.52 out of a total of six points. Children's and caregivers' characteristics were not significantly related to the SSQ-N and SSQ-S indexes.

CONCLUSION

Family members are the caregivers' primary source of social support and caregivers reported being satisfied with the support they received.

Pediatric pain: prevalence, assessment, and management in a teaching hospital

The goal of this study was to examine the prevalence, assessment and management of pediatric pain in a public teaching hospital. The study sample consisted of 121 inpatients (70 infants, 36 children, and 15 adolescents), their families, 40 physicians, and 43 nurses. All participants were interviewed except infants and children who could not communicate due to their clinical status. The interview included open-ended questions concerning the inpatients' pain symptoms during the 24 h preceding data collection, as well as pain assessment and pharmacological/non-pharmacological management of pain. The data were obtained from 100% of the eligible inpatients. Thirty-four children/adolescents (28%) answered the questionnaire and for the other 72% (unable to communicate), the family/health professional caregivers reported pain. Among these 34 persons, 20 children/adolescents reported pain, 68% of whom reported that they received pharmacological intervention for pain relief. Eighty-two family caregivers were available on the day of data collection. Of these, 40 family caregivers (49%) had observed their child's pain response. In addition, 74% reported that the inpatients received pharmacological management. Physicians reported that only 38% of the inpatients exhibited pain signs, which were predominantly acute pain detected during clinical procedures. They reported that 66% of patients received pharmacological intervention. The nurses reported pain signs in 50% of the inpatients, which were detected during clinical procedures. The nurses reported that pain was managed in 78% of inpatients by using pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological interventions. The findings provide evidence of the high prevalence of pain in pediatric inpatients and the under-recognition of pain by health professionals.