The Effect of Childhood Chronic Illness Longitudinal Mental Health Outcomes
Abstract
The Effect of Childhood Chronic Illness on Longitudinal Mental Health Outcomes The term chronic disease refers to medical conditions that have more than a transient duration as well as long-term effects. In general, chronicity is applied to conditions of more than 3-months duration (Wallander & Varni, 1998; Williams, 1997). In addition, beyond duration, the illness must impact quality of life, for example by resulting in difficulties with daily functioning (Wallander & Varni, 1998). Examples of chronic illnesses include diabetes, cancer, arthritis, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, asthma, hypertension, and epilepsy, although countless such conditions exist. These illnesses must be managed for an extended period, although there is a great deal of variability in symptoms and treatment across time. For example, cancer patients may undergo frequent, intense treatment in the form of chemotherapy and radiation at the time of initial diagnosis, but once past the acute phase, treatment of the illness transitions to a maintenance phase (e.g, taking oral medication daily) and eventually becomes less frequent (e.g. no longer having to take oral medication and instead undergoing annual scans), Yet, the impact of treatment may yield long-standing late effects. On the other hand, patients diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (TIDM) must check their blood glucose levels and inject insulin multiple times per day indefinitely and symptoms will also persist across the lifespan.
Subject Area
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Parbhakar, Meera, "The Effect of Childhood Chronic Illness Longitudinal Mental Health Outcomes" (2013). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI13853165.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI13853165
