A Qualitative Study of Psychological Impact on Mothers of Children with COVID- 19 in Hospital Setting

Abstract

Background: Hospitalization of children leads to physical and emotional exhaustion for the parents. Objective: This study investigates the psychological impact of COVID-19 related children's hospitalization on mothers during hospital stay. Method: This is a qualitative research. Following informed consent and purposive sampling technique, demographic details of both child and mother were collected. In-depth semi structured telephonic interviews were conducted (till the point of data saturation) with 24 mothers of COVID 19 positive children admitted at Mayo hospital Lahore. Thematic analysis was done to explore the psychological distress experienced by mothers. Results: 24 mothers were interviewed with mean age of 33.96 + 5.6. Three mothers had lost a family member due to COVID-19. Worry (8, 25%), sleep difficulties (8, 25%) and Irritability (7, 21.9%), were the common behavior and emotional changes noticed by mothers in their children since hospitalization. Psychological impact on mothers included stress, anxiety, irritability, grief, and fear of death and infecting others. The most commonly identified sources of worry among the participants were problems experienced during hospital stay, worry about admitted child physical and emotional health, family members admissions in different hospitals, care provision for children left at home, infodemic and stigma and social rejection. Conclusion: Mothers staying in hospital with their children having COVID-19 illness, experience many psychosocial consequences thus psychological support should be provided to safeguard their well- being. Knowledge generated from this study enhances the ability of healthcare providers to provide care that is congruent with the needs of admitted mothers and children.