Background The death of an infant or child has been described as the most stressful life event, but few reports exist on the effects on parents’ physical health in the year after the death. Objective To examine acute illnesses, use of health services, and medication changes among parents from 3 racial/ethnic groups 1 to 13 months after the death of an infant or child in the neonatal intensive care unit or pediatric intensive care unit. Methods In a longitudinal study, 96 parents (41% black, 32% Hispanic, 27% white) of deceased infants or children were recruited from 4 children’s hospitals and death records. Parents reported demographic information, acute illnesses, health services used, and medication changes 1 to 13 months after the death. Descriptive statistics and 1-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the data. Results Seventy mothers (age, mean [SD], 35.9 [7.13] years) and 26 fathers (age, 39.0 [7.37] years) participated; 56% of mothers and 42% of fathers had preexisting health problems before the death. Morbidity was greatest in the first 6 months, was relatively quiescent in months 7 through 10, and increased in months 11 through 13. Mothers reported 363 acute illnesses, 16 hospitalizations, and 124 medication changes. Morbidity rates and medication changes for fathers followed similar patterns but with lower frequency. Conclusion After the death of an infant or child, interventions for parents, especially parents with chronic health problems, are best targeted on illness prevention and mental health in months 1 to 6 and 11 to 13 following the death.

Background More than 55 000 children die annually in the United States, most in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. Because of the stress and emotional turmoil of the deaths, the children’s parents have difficulty comprehending information. Objectives To compare parents’ reports and hospital chart data on cause of death and examine agreement on cause of death according to parents’ sex, race, participation in end-of-life decisions, and discussion with physicians; deceased child’s age; unit of care (neonatal or pediatric); and hospital and intensive care unit lengths of stay. Methods A descriptive, correlational design was used with a structured interview of parents 1 month after the death and review of hospital chart data. Parents whose children died in intensive care were recruited from 4 South Florida hospitals and from Florida Department of Health death records. Results Among 230 parents, 54% of mothers and 40% of fathers agreed with the chart cause of death. Agreement did not differ significantly for mothers or fathers by race/ethnicity, participation in end-of-life decisions, discussions with physicians, or mean length of hospital stay. Agreement was better for mothers when the stay in the intensive care unit was the shortest. Fathers’ agreement with chart data was best when the deceased was an infant and death was in the pediatric intensive care unit. Conclusions Death of a child is a time of high stress when parents’ concentration, hearing, and information processing are diminished. Many parents have misconceptions about the cause of the death 1 month after the death.