Clinical Trial: The Experience of Uncertainty in Parents of Children With an Undiagnosed Medical Condition
Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: The Experience of Uncertainty in Parents of Children With an Undiagnosed Medical Condition
Brief Summary:
Background:
- Rare and undiagnosed conditions are often chronic and disabling, with symptoms affecting different organ systems at various levels of severity. Perhaps the most challenging feature of an undiagnosed medical condition that has lasted 2 or more years is its characteristic uncertainty. In the absence of a diagnosis, health care professionals can provide only limited treatment and prognostic information.
- In the case of a child with an undiagnosed condition, the uncertainty that accompanies what is often a chronic, debilitating medical condition and an undefined prognosis may have physical, psychological, social, and spiritual implications for the entire family. Research suggests that parents of a child with an undiagnosed medical condition may be at significantly increased risk of anxiety, depression, poor health, and overall lower quality of life.
- It is not well understood how individuals cope with and adapt to chronic uncertainty, and the factors that influence this process. To design future interventions, descriptive studies are needed to reveal predictors that can be manipulated to improve outcomes.
Objectives:
- To examine whether perceptions of uncertainty, and perceived personal control, are associated with coping and adaptation.
- To examine how the length of time elapsed since child was identified as sick and perceptions of uncertainty affect coping and adaptation.
- To assess how perceptions of uncertainty, time elapsed since child became sick, optimism, and perceived personal control affect coping and adaptation.
