The Impact of COVID-19 on Families With Pediatric Muscular Dystrophy Patients

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in unprecedented changes in daily activities and healthcare services. In the United States, stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures were put, and school closures impacted many students. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been shown to have wide-ranging and long-term effects. With school closures and limitations in in-person visits and provider care, we hypothesized that the patients with pediatric muscular dystrophies and neuromuscular conditions were more vulnerable to the restriction posed by this pandemic. This survey-based study examined the psychosocial impact of this pandemic on pediatric patients with neuromuscular disorders and caregiver burden through chart review and self-reports via survey administration using a validated tool (COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Scales {CEFIS}). The majority of families reported that they had a stay-at-home order (91.7%), schools/childcare centers were closed (87.5%), their children’s education was disrupted (83.3%), and they were unable to visit or care for a family member (58.3%). Parents/caregivers felt that the COVID-19 pandemic made parenting a little bit worse (mean = 2.6 ± 0.96) and made it more difficult to care for the elderly or those with disabilities in the family (mean = 2.6 ± 0.95) and for their child with a neuromuscular disability (mean = 2.6 ± 0.91). Our data highlights the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of families and caregivers of pediatric patients with muscular dystrophies.