PEDIATRIC TRAUMA - IMPACT ON WORK AND FAMILY FINANCES

Objectives. National data now exist on incidence, prevalence, and cost of injury. However, the personal impact of injury on work and family finances has not been thoroughly studied. We examine the extent and na ture of work and financial problems after pediatric trauma and identif y predictors. Clinicians are alerted so they can better counsel parent s about potential postinjury work and financial difficulties. Methods. Staff collected comprehensive data on the acute care and short-term r ehabilitation of 182 Massachusetts children with injuries. Consenting parents were surveyed and their children were given a battery of medic al, functional, and psychosocial tests. Information on work and financ ial impact at 1 and 6 months postinjury was available from 120 parents . Results. Given these children's generally mild injuries, the impact on work and family finances was remarkable. For many families work and financial problems were short-lived; however, for others serious prob lems remained at 6 months postdischarge. Families whose children were severely injured were at highest risk for work and financial problems. Middle-class parents and parents on public assistance or in our other insurance category reported more work and financial problems than tho se in health maintenance organizations. Long acute hospital stay and f our or more impairments at discharge were also strong predictors. Conc lusion. Childhood injury can lead to serious work and financial proble ms for families. Given the central role of the family in pediatric reh abilitation, clinicians and policymakers involved in acute trauma care and rehabilitation should pay greater attention to the financial repe rcussions of injury.