P0425 - Contact After the Death of Pediatric Patient: A Survey of Self-Reported Practices and Beliefs of Pediatric Providers across Michigan

Introduction: The general pediatrician develops a relationship with the family over the course of a child’s life. Due to its infrequency, a pediatric death leaves an indelible mark both on the provider and the parent(s). Little is known about the beliefs and practices of general pediatric providers for funeral attendance and contacting families after a pediatric death.

Objective: 1) To describe the beliefs and practices of pediatric providers in contacting families after a pediatric death in Michigan. 2) To identify trends in beliefs and practices based on demographic and educational variables.

Methods: We surveyed pediatric care providers associated with Ascension St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan, and attendees of the 2019 Michigan Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics (MI-AAP) conference. Associations between demographic variables with responses to the survey was assessed using the chi-squared test, Student’s t-test and analysis of variance. Data was analyzed using SPSS v. 26.0 with a p-value < 0.05 noted as being statistically significant.

Results: A total of 182 surveys were analyzed of which 113 (62%) were practicing pediatric providers. Of these, the mean age was 51.0 ± 12.0 years,
69% female, 69.3% White. Female providers were more likely to agree that follow-up helps the provider (86.8% v 69%, p=0.03) and that that they would like guidelines about funeral attendance (76.9% v 47.1%, p=0.007). Providers who reported that they “always” contacted families were significantly older than those who reported “never” (mean age 54 ± 9. vs. 44 ± 13, p=0.02).

Conclusions: This study, to our knowledge, is the first of its kind to describe the beliefs and practices of primarily general pediatric providers regarding contacting families after a pediatric death. Age and gender played an important role in the beliefs and practices of providers; further studies are needed to investigate these differences.