Allostatic Load Borne by Caregivers of Children with Serious Conditions:
Acceptability of Self-Reported Data
#MMPMID41340647
Grossoehme DH
; Friebert S
; Jenkins R
; Pelletier JH
; White PC
; Forbes ML
Palliat Med Rep
2025[]; 6
(1
): 521-526
PMID41340647
show ga
BACKGROUND: Stress due to a child's serious medical condition affects the entire
family. The cumulative stress burden ("allostatic load") has deleterious health
and economic effects. OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate adequate caregiver willingness to
disclose health care utilization and work/school attendance. SETTING/SUBJECTS: We
enrolled caregivers of well children (WC), children with medical complexity
(CMC), and children receiving palliative care (PC) (N = 15; 5 per group) in a
midwestern United States pediatric hospital. MEASUREMENTS: A novel allostatic
load questionnaire and the Family Appraisal of Caregiving Questionnaire for
Palliative Care were used. RESULTS: All caregivers (100% female) completed the
study, with 9% of data missing. PC participants reported greater child health
care appointments and admissions compared with WC and CMC. CONCLUSIONS:
Caregivers will disclose sensitive information for health care research,
providing evidence for subsequent, adequately powered studies to inform
policy-making. While underpowered for between-group analyses, results suggest
pediatricians should routinely assess caregiver burden even at well-child visits.