Depression Status in Children’s Parents During Hospitalization in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Aim: The purpose of this research was to determine depression levels in parents of children hospitalized in the intensive care unit and to identify any variation between maternal and paternal depression levels. Method: The study was performed with 25 mothers and fathers of patients hospitalized between February and April 2015 in the Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to evaluate the parents’ depression levels. Results: The mothers and fathers of 25 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 61.2 ± 53.8 months (range, 3-172 months). Nineteen (76%) of patients had poor socioeconomic status, 4 (16%) had average socioeconomic status, and 2 (8%) had good status. The mean Beck Depression Inventory score was 17.9 ± 11.1 among mothers and 17.1±9.95 among fathers. No correlation was determined between socioeconomic status and maternal or paternal depression level (p= 0.64 and p= 0.77, respectively). Similarly, there was no correlation between education level and maternal or paternal levels of depression (p= 0.37 and p= 0.77). Conclusion: Depression levels in both mothers and fathers of children hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit are significantly higher than those of the normal population. This study might now be repeated with wider patient groups. This study reveals the need for mothers and fathers of patients to be given psychological counseling and psychiatric support