Parental satisfaction with inpatient care of children with cerebral palsy

Aim: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) have complex health-care needs. This study examines levels of parental satisfaction with inpatient care for children with CP at a tertiary care hospital to identify areas for improvement.

Methods: Parents/guardians of children with CP and parents/guardians of children without a disability admitted to hospital completed a custom-designed questionnaire assessing six areas of the hospital admission: (i) the admission process; (ii) the child's personal care; (iii) the child's medical care; (iv) overall care of the child; (v) the parent's experience in hospital; and (vi) keeping up to date in hospital. Differences between the two groups were analysed using Student's t-tests.

Results: Parents of children with CP were significantly less satisfied with the inpatient care as compared with parents of children without a disability in four of the six categories: 'my child's personal care' (P = 0.0033), 'my child's medical care' (P = 0.0350), 'overall care' (P = 0.0081) and 'my experience in the hospital' (P = 0.0209). When the overall questionnaire was compared between the two groups, parents of children with CP were less satisfied with care than parents of children without a disability (P = 0.0036).

Conclusion: Parents of children with CP are less satisfied with the inpatient care of their child compared with parents of children without a disability. This information should be instrumental in informing change to ensure that parent satisfaction levels improve to a level consistent with other children admitted to a tertiary care setting.