Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack
Abstract Background There is scarce knowledge on the health care follow-up of parents of terror attack survivors. This study focused on the mothers and fathers of survivors and examined (1) their perceived health care needs relative to their psychological reactions, physical health problems (unmet h...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10592-1 |
| _version_ | 1827321469089087488 |
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| author | Ida Frugård Strøm Tore Wentzel-Larsen Synne Stensland Grete Dyb Lise Eilin Stene |
| author_facet | Ida Frugård Strøm Tore Wentzel-Larsen Synne Stensland Grete Dyb Lise Eilin Stene |
| author_sort | Ida Frugård Strøm |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background There is scarce knowledge on the health care follow-up of parents of terror attack survivors. This study focused on the mothers and fathers of survivors and examined (1) their perceived health care needs relative to their psychological reactions, physical health problems (unmet health care needs), and adaptation to work; (2) whether sociodemographic characteristics, health problems and social support were associated with unmet health care needs; and (3) how unmet health care needs, sociodemographic characteristics, and experiences with health services associated with overall dissatisfaction during the health care follow-up. Methods Interview and questionnaire data from three waves of the Utøya parent study were analyzed (n = 364). Chi-square tests and t- tests were used to compare unmet physical and psychological health care needs, sociodemographic factors and post-terror attack health reported by mothers and fathers. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine whether sociodemographic characteristics, unmet health care needs, and health care experiences were associated with overall dissatisfaction among mothers and fathers of the survivors during the health care follow-up. Results Among the mothers, 43% reported unmet health care needs for psychological reactions, while 25% reported unmet health care needs for physical problems. Among the fathers, 36% reported unmet health care needs for psychological reactions, and 15% reported unmet health care needs for physical problems. Approximately 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers reported “very high/high” needs for adaptation to work. Poorer self-perceived health, higher levels of posttraumatic stress and anxiety/depression symptoms, and lower levels of social support were significantly associated with reported unmet psychological and physical health care needs in both mothers and fathers. Parents with unmet health care needs reported significantly lower satisfaction with the help services received compared to parents whose health care needs were met. Low accessibility of help services and not having enough time to talk and interact with health care practitioners were associated with overall dissatisfaction with the help received. Conclusions Our findings highlight that parents of terror-exposed adolescents are at risk of having unmet psychological and physical health care needs and thus need to be included in proactive outreach and health care follow-up programs in the aftermath of a terror attack. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-25T01:06:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-092ecf6a170b4e178d7172cc417d83fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T01:06:42Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-092ecf6a170b4e178d7172cc417d83fa2024-03-10T12:09:08ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632024-03-0124111510.1186/s12913-024-10592-1Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attackIda Frugård Strøm0Tore Wentzel-Larsen1Synne Stensland2Grete Dyb3Lise Eilin Stene4Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress StudiesNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress StudiesNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress StudiesNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress StudiesNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress StudiesAbstract Background There is scarce knowledge on the health care follow-up of parents of terror attack survivors. This study focused on the mothers and fathers of survivors and examined (1) their perceived health care needs relative to their psychological reactions, physical health problems (unmet health care needs), and adaptation to work; (2) whether sociodemographic characteristics, health problems and social support were associated with unmet health care needs; and (3) how unmet health care needs, sociodemographic characteristics, and experiences with health services associated with overall dissatisfaction during the health care follow-up. Methods Interview and questionnaire data from three waves of the Utøya parent study were analyzed (n = 364). Chi-square tests and t- tests were used to compare unmet physical and psychological health care needs, sociodemographic factors and post-terror attack health reported by mothers and fathers. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine whether sociodemographic characteristics, unmet health care needs, and health care experiences were associated with overall dissatisfaction among mothers and fathers of the survivors during the health care follow-up. Results Among the mothers, 43% reported unmet health care needs for psychological reactions, while 25% reported unmet health care needs for physical problems. Among the fathers, 36% reported unmet health care needs for psychological reactions, and 15% reported unmet health care needs for physical problems. Approximately 1 in 5 mothers and 1 in 10 fathers reported “very high/high” needs for adaptation to work. Poorer self-perceived health, higher levels of posttraumatic stress and anxiety/depression symptoms, and lower levels of social support were significantly associated with reported unmet psychological and physical health care needs in both mothers and fathers. Parents with unmet health care needs reported significantly lower satisfaction with the help services received compared to parents whose health care needs were met. Low accessibility of help services and not having enough time to talk and interact with health care practitioners were associated with overall dissatisfaction with the help received. Conclusions Our findings highlight that parents of terror-exposed adolescents are at risk of having unmet psychological and physical health care needs and thus need to be included in proactive outreach and health care follow-up programs in the aftermath of a terror attack.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10592-1Post-terror health care needsUnmet health care needsTerrorParents of survivorsDepression and anxietyPosttraumatic stress |
| spellingShingle | Ida Frugård Strøm Tore Wentzel-Larsen Synne Stensland Grete Dyb Lise Eilin Stene Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack BMC Health Services Research Post-terror health care needs Unmet health care needs Terror Parents of survivors Depression and anxiety Posttraumatic stress |
| title | Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack |
| title_full | Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack |
| title_fullStr | Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack |
| title_short | Health care needs, experiences, and satisfaction after terrorism: a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the Utøya attack |
| title_sort | health care needs experiences and satisfaction after terrorism a longitudinal study of parents of survivors of the utoya attack |
| topic | Post-terror health care needs Unmet health care needs Terror Parents of survivors Depression and anxiety Posttraumatic stress |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10592-1 |
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