Neill Sarah, Carter Rachel, Jones Ray, Roland Damian, Bayes Natasha, Tavaré Alison, Hughes Joanne, Turner Tracy, Chynoweth Jade, Tan Chantal, Moll Henriette, Lakhanpaul Monica
School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK.
University Hospitals Leicester and University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
Health Expect. 2021 Dec;24(6):2036-2046. doi: 10.1111/hex.13347. Epub 2021 Aug 18.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the first UK lockdown (March to May 2020) witnessed a dramatic reduction in children presenting to primary/emergency care, creating concern that fear of the virus was resulting in children presenting late.
An online survey was co-developed with UK parents to understand the impact of the lockdown on parents' help-seeking for, and care of, their sick/injured child(ren). The survey was advertised through social media and snowballing to parents whose children had been ill/injured during the lockdown. Analysis used descriptive statistics, SPSSv25 and thematic analysis.
The survey was fully completed by 198 UK parents. The majority asked for help (144/198): from their family doctor (78), national helplines (48) or an Emergency Department (23). Most reported that their decision-making had not changed, although how they sought help had changed. A few parents reported that the severity and duration of illness had increased because of uncertainty about and/or difficulty accessing services. Parents did not always report seeking help for symptoms rated red or amber by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Parents reported accessing information through the internet or using information that they already had.
This was a collaboration with parents from survey development to dissemination, with two parents being integral members of our research team.
Our questionnaire was completed by parents who were not deterred from seeking help for their sick or injured children. Even for these parents, the lockdown changes to services created uncertainty about, and barriers to, accessing medical help for their children.
在新冠疫情期间，英国首次封锁（2020年3月至5月）期间，前往初级/急诊护理机构就诊的儿童数量大幅减少，这引发了人们对病毒恐惧导致儿童就诊延迟的担忧。
与英国家长共同开展了一项在线调查，以了解封锁对家长为生病/受伤子女寻求帮助及护理的影响。该调查通过社交媒体进行宣传，并向封锁期间子女生病/受伤的家长进行滚雪球式推广。分析采用描述性统计、SPSSv25软件和主题分析。
198位英国家长完整填写了调查问卷。大多数家长（144/198）寻求了帮助：向家庭医生（78人）、全国求助热线（48人）或急诊科（23人）求助。大多数家长表示他们的决策没有改变，尽管他们寻求帮助的方式有所改变。少数家长报告称，由于服务的不确定性和/或获取困难，疾病的严重程度和持续时间有所增加。家长们并非总是报告为皇家儿科学会和儿童健康学院评定为红色或琥珀色的症状寻求帮助。家长们报告通过互联网获取信息或使用他们已有的信息。
这是一项从调查开发到传播都与家长合作的项目，有两位家长是我们研究团队的重要成员。
我们的调查问卷由那些未因子女生病或受伤而放弃寻求帮助的家长填写。即使对于这些家长来说，封锁期间服务的变化也给为子女获取医疗帮助带来了不确定性和障碍。
