The Effects of Caring for Young Children with Developmental Disabilities on Mothers’ Health and Healthcare Use: Analysis of Primary Care Data in the Born in Bradford Cohort

Abstract

We explored the association between caregiving for preschool children with developmental disabilities and maternal health and healthcare use using linked primary care and Born in Bradford birth cohort data. Adjusting for prenatal health, healthcare use and socioeconomic status, mothers who were caregivers were more likely than other mothers to have symptoms of psychological distress (odds ratio 1.24; 95% CI 1.01, 1.53), exhaustion (1.42; 1.12, 1.80) and possibly head and musculoskeletal pain (1.18; 0.97, 1.43). Despite the higher prevalence of symptoms, they did not access healthcare services more and may seek healthcare for psychological distress less often (0.64; 0.40, 1.02). In general, socioeconomic disadvantage was associated with worse health. Pakistani ethnicity (versus white British) and prenatal consultation were strongly associated with higher postnatal consultation rates. Prenatal ill health, healthcare use and socioeconomic status are important factors in the detection of postnatal ill health via primary care services. If caregiver burden and the risk of under-detecting (and thus under treating) caregiver ill health is not addressed during the preschool period health inequalities between caregivers and other mothers and their families may persist and grow. The health of mothers of young disabled children, in particular their unmet health needs, warrants attention in research and clinical practice.

An approach to identifying young children with developmental disabilities via primary care records

“…As such, much of the research presented here is also available in the lead author's thesis published in the White Rose eThesis Online repository. In the wider research project, we found that mothers of young children with developmental disabilities are more likely to have ill-health than other mothers of children of the same age, with increased rates of symptoms of psychological distress, exhaustion, and musculoskeletal pain 24,25 . Parents report experiencing high emotional stress during the period of seeking and receiving a disability diagnosis for their child 9,26 .…”

“…To protect the anonymity of the study participants, these calculations used the month and year of the child’s birth, using the first date of the month for the calculation. Only one child per mother was included, with further exclusions for children who were withdrawn from the BiB study or died, did not have linked primary care data or a maternal BiB baseline questionnaire (n=2,469) 24 . For every child, we also extracted data on the child’s sex, mother’s age at the child’s birth, ethnicity, measures of socioeconomic status, such as education.…”

“…This study was conducted as part of a PhD research project exploring the health and healthcare use of mothers of young children with developmental disabilities using primary care data linked with sociodemographic data from the Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort study 24 . As such, much of the research presented here is also available in the lead author’s thesis published in the White Rose eThesis Online repository .…”

An approach to identifying young children with developmental disabilities via primary care records

“…of the study participants, these calculations used the month and year of the child's birth, using the first date of the month for the calculation. Only child per mother was included, with further exclusions for children who were withdrawn from the BiB study or died, did not have linked primary care data or a maternal BiB baseline questionnaire (n=2,469) 23 .…”

“…This study was conducted as part of a PhD research project exploring the health and healthcare use of mothers of young children with developmental disabilities using primary care data linked with sociodemographic data from the Born in Bradford (BiB) cohort study 23 . As such, much of the research presented here is also available in the lead author's thesis published in the White Rose eThesis Online repository.…”