Brooten Dorothy A, Youngblut JoAnne M, Roche Rosa M, Caicedo Carmen L, Page Timothy F
Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.
Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.
J Child Fam Stud. 2018 Jun;27(6):2049-2056. doi: 10.1007/s10826-018-1044-1. Epub 2018 Mar 19.
Two million children experience sibling death annually and have problems that require clinical intervention although few receive such help. Effects on surviving siblings' mental health has been well documented, however their physical health has not. This study described surviving siblings' illnesses, treatments/health services at 2, 4, 6, and 13 months post-sibling death. The 132 children (76 girls, 56 boys, 10.6 years, SD 3.43); 30% Hispanic, 51% Black, 26% White were recruited via hospital ICUs and published obituaries. Using a longitudinal design, parents reported types and numbers of surviving siblings' illnesses, treatments/health services, and dates post-sibling death. Most of the 207 illnesses and 674 treatments/health services occurred in the first 6 months post-sibling death. While girls had more illnesses (131) than boys (76) and Hispanic children had more illnesses than White or Black children, these differences were not statistically significant. Girls accounted for 66% of the treatments/health services and boys 34%. There was no significant difference in treatments/health service use by gender of the children ( = 1.00, = .32). Hispanic children had significantly more treatments/health service use than Black children ( = 6.81, = .002). Sibling death affects surviving siblings' physical health. Study data document the importance of monitoring the health, treatments and health service use of surviving siblings especially in the first 6 months after a sibling death, regardless of the child' s gender. On average, Hispanic children had greater health service use, which may warrant greater attention.
每年有两百万儿童经历兄弟姐妹死亡，他们存在一些需要临床干预的问题，尽管很少有人得到此类帮助。兄弟姐妹死亡对存活下来的孩子心理健康的影响已有充分记录，但对其身体健康的影响却鲜有研究。本研究描述了兄弟姐妹死亡后2个月、4个月、6个月和13个月时存活下来的孩子的患病情况、治疗/医疗服务情况。通过医院重症监护室和已发布的讣告招募了132名儿童（76名女孩，56名男孩，平均年龄10.6岁，标准差3.43）；其中30%为西班牙裔，51%为黑人，26%为白人。采用纵向研究设计，父母报告了存活下来的孩子的患病类型和数量、治疗/医疗服务情况以及兄弟姐妹死亡后的时间。207种疾病和674次治疗/医疗服务中的大多数发生在兄弟姐妹死亡后的前6个月。虽然女孩的疾病（131种）比男孩（76种）多，西班牙裔儿童的疾病比白人或黑人儿童多，但这些差异无统计学意义。女孩占治疗/医疗服务的66%，男孩占34%。儿童性别对治疗/医疗服务使用情况没有显著差异（卡方 = 1.00，p = .32）。西班牙裔儿童的治疗/医疗服务使用显著多于黑人儿童（卡方 = 6.81，p = .002）。兄弟姐妹死亡会影响存活下来的孩子的身体健康。研究数据表明，监测存活下来的孩子的健康状况、治疗情况和医疗服务使用情况非常重要，尤其是在兄弟姐妹死亡后的前6个月，无论孩子的性别如何。平均而言，西班牙裔儿童的医疗服务使用更多，这可能需要更多关注。
