Caregivers' perceptions following gastrostomy in severely disabled children with feeding problems

Title

Caregivers' perceptions following gastrostomy in severely disabled children with feeding problems

Creator

Tawfik R; Dickson A; Clarke M; Thomas AG

Publisher

Developmental Medicine And Child Neurology

Date

1997

Subject

Child; Female; Humans; Male; Adult; Attitude to Health; Questionnaires; Treatment Outcome; Fundoplication; Time Factors; Cost of Illness; Gastrostomy; Stress; quality of life; adolescent; Preschool; Caregivers/psychology; infant; Q3 Literature Search; Parents/psychology; Nutritional Failure; Psychological/psychology; Developmental Disabilities/complications; Eating Disorders/etiology/therapy

Description

Feeding difficulties are common in neurologically impaired children, often leading to great distress and frustration in the child and family. A gastrostomy may be advocated if oral intake is inadequate causing poor weight gain or when there is significant aspiration during feeding, or if feeding is very distressing. To find out if caregivers were happy with the outcome of gastrostomy (with fundoplication, when indicated), a 35-item questionnaire was developed and sent to 38 of them. Twenty-nine replies were received and appeared to be representative of the whole group. Coughing, choking, and vomiting improved in most cases. Weight gain improved in all in whom it had been a problem. In the majority, it became easier to give the children their medications although control of epilepsy was unchanged overall. Time spent feeding the child was reduced and many caregivers had more time to devote to other children and themselves. Only one parent regretted the operation. In children with severe disability and feeding problems, a gastrostomy (with fundoplication if there is significant reflux) can reduce symptoms of vomiting, coughing, and choking, help growth and improve quality of life in the child, when patients are properly selected.
1997

Rights

Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Tawfik R; Dickson A; Clarke M; Thomas AG, “Caregivers' perceptions following gastrostomy in severely disabled children with feeding problems,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/11935.