Background: Follow-up studies on children with oesophageal atresia have shown that they often have eating and respiratory problems in early childhood. Psychosocial follow-up studies are scarce. In the design of a comprehensive biopsychosocial follow-up study of children and adolescents with oesophageal atresia, we wanted to include the knowledge of parents regarding the course of the disease.
Material and methods: We asked 29 parents participating in a meeting of members of the Norwegian support group for oesophageal atresia to complete a questionnaire about the somatic and psychosocial functioning of their child. Parental satisfaction with the health services responsible for their child was also assessed.
Results: Parents of 25 children (86%) with median age 4 years (8 months-16 years) responded. The main problems reported were related to respiratory infections (12/25), chronic cough (17/25), wheezing (19/25), swallowing difficulties (23/25), and psychosocial problems related to meals (11/23).
Interpretation: Although selection bias may have influenced the results, the parents reported enduring respiratory, feeding and psychosocial problems beyond their child's early childhood.