How parents and clinicians differ in views on the prognosis of critically ill infants

The extent to which parents and clinicians have different perceptions about the prognosis of infants in an intensive care unit (ICU) has been revealed by a new study.

Dr Sarah Bernstein from the Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, North Carolina, USA, conducted a longitudinal study of parents and clinicians caring for infants with neurologic conditions in an ICU.

A total of 56 parent-clinician pairs (dyads) completed a post-consultation survey about expected motor, language, and cognitive outcomes. For each question there were 6 possible responses: