Caregiver Health: An Epidemiological Study of Active Duty Parents with Special Needs Children

Abstract

Caregivers of children with Special Healthcare Needs (SHN) are at an elevated risk for adverse health outcomes among the general population; research among military populations is lacking. Records of active duty personnel and children born between 2007 and 2009 were extracted from two military databases. Children with SHN were identified using 3M Clinical Risk Grouping (CRG) software. Active duty personnel were categorized into three parental groups and were followed through 2014 for diagnoses of hypertension, migraines, and sleep disorders. Data analyses included descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses. The total study population consisted of 1,423,216 active duty personnel, and 10% of parents had a child with SHN. For migraines and sleep disorders, parents of children with SHN showed the highest odds of diagnoses. The odds of hypertension diagnoses were lowest in parents of children without SHN. Effects of parental status also varied by sex. The present study is the first to examine differences in military personnel health outcomes as a function of both parenting status and sex. Findings support continued use and possible expansion of current military programs designed to support families of children with SHN.

Keywords:

• Military
• health
• children
• pediatric
• special health care needs

Acknowledgments

I am a military service member (or employee of the U.S. Government). This work was prepared as part of my official duties. Title 17, U.S.C. §105 provides the “Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government.” Title 17, U.S.C. §101 defines a U.S. Government work as work prepared by a military service member or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties. This work was supported with resources provided by the TriService Nursing Research Program under work unit no. N1416. The views expressed in this research are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of the Army, Department of the Air Force, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Approved for public release; distribution unlimited. This research has been conducted in compliance with all applicable federal regulations governing the protection of human subjects in research (Protocol NHRC.2014.0041).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

IRB approval

This work was reviewed and approved through the Naval Health Research Center IRB in San Diego, California.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported with resources provided by the TriService Nursing Research Program (Project Number N14-P14).