tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
School and day care closures due to the 2009 pandemic of H1N1 flu weren't a big problem for most parents, researchers found.
In a nationwide poll only 3% of caregivers said their children's dismissal caused major disruptions in family routines, according to Gillian K. Steelfisher, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues.
The majority -- 75% -- said the closures weren't a problem at all, Steelfisher's group reported in the Sept. 10 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The most commonly reported consequences were an adult missing work in 20% of households and a child missing free or reduced-cost school lunches in 19% of households.
But only 2% and less than 1% of the parents surveyed called these major problems.
Few parents (2%) said they felt at risk of losing their job due to problems created by the school or day care closures, although 11% incurred additional costs, such as from arranging for a sitter.
The poll included 523 parents with a child under age 18 whose school or child care center closed temporarily due to the threat of H1N1 transmission or absenteeism since the opening of school in late summer or fall 2009.
The researchers sampled households from 39 states where the CDC had records of school closings.
Parents overwhelmingly agreed with the decision to close their children's schools and day care centers (90%), which most believed effectively reduced influenza transmission (85%).
The researchers concluded that "during influenza epidemics, state and local school and health authorities should weigh health consequences of the disease and its spread, and high staff and student absenteeism, against potential negative consequences of dismissals on families, such as missing work and arranging for child care."
These results largely match those of prior local surveys and hypothetical scenarios posed to parents, according to an editorial note accompanying the MMRW article.
It cautioned that the poll findings might not generalize to areas with lower levels of influenza activity as it focused only on areas experiencing school dismissals and high levels of influenza activity.
Also, it pointed out that the sample size did not allow the researchers to drill down into factors such as length of dismissal, perceived H1N1 severity or risk, urban or rural setting, or child's age.
Most of the closings (58%) involved in this study lasted three days or less.
Other studies of actual and hypothetical school closings have suggested that longer durations raise parents' level of concern, according to the editors.
"If the dismissal had lasted much longer, economic loss and child care provision might have become more important," they wrote in the editorial note.
Another limitation was that certain groups within the population were more likely to participate in the poll, which weighting to adjust for nonresponse biases may not have been able to address completely, they noted.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/SwineFlu/22102
In a nationwide poll only 3% of caregivers said their children's dismissal caused major disruptions in family routines, according to Gillian K. Steelfisher, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues.
The majority -- 75% -- said the closures weren't a problem at all, Steelfisher's group reported in the Sept. 10 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The most commonly reported consequences were an adult missing work in 20% of households and a child missing free or reduced-cost school lunches in 19% of households.
But only 2% and less than 1% of the parents surveyed called these major problems.
Few parents (2%) said they felt at risk of losing their job due to problems created by the school or day care closures, although 11% incurred additional costs, such as from arranging for a sitter.
The poll included 523 parents with a child under age 18 whose school or child care center closed temporarily due to the threat of H1N1 transmission or absenteeism since the opening of school in late summer or fall 2009.
The researchers sampled households from 39 states where the CDC had records of school closings.
Parents overwhelmingly agreed with the decision to close their children's schools and day care centers (90%), which most believed effectively reduced influenza transmission (85%).
The researchers concluded that "during influenza epidemics, state and local school and health authorities should weigh health consequences of the disease and its spread, and high staff and student absenteeism, against potential negative consequences of dismissals on families, such as missing work and arranging for child care."
These results largely match those of prior local surveys and hypothetical scenarios posed to parents, according to an editorial note accompanying the MMRW article.
It cautioned that the poll findings might not generalize to areas with lower levels of influenza activity as it focused only on areas experiencing school dismissals and high levels of influenza activity.
Also, it pointed out that the sample size did not allow the researchers to drill down into factors such as length of dismissal, perceived H1N1 severity or risk, urban or rural setting, or child's age.
Most of the closings (58%) involved in this study lasted three days or less.
Other studies of actual and hypothetical school closings have suggested that longer durations raise parents' level of concern, according to the editors.
"If the dismissal had lasted much longer, economic loss and child care provision might have become more important," they wrote in the editorial note.
Another limitation was that certain groups within the population were more likely to participate in the poll, which weighting to adjust for nonresponse biases may not have been able to address completely, they noted.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/SwineFlu/22102