Experiences Reported by Siblings of Children Hospitalized in the PICU (SIBCARE)

November 24, 2025 updated by: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
The care for a child in pediatric intensive care is recognized as a traumatic experience for the patient and their entourage. The needs and feelings of parents are relatively well supported in the literature. However, there is still too little data concerning siblings, who can nevertheless be impacted by this difficult life experience. The study consists of conducting two semi-structured interviews with siblings of children hospitalized in pediatric intensive care at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital and Robert Debré Hospital. The first interview will take place during the stay in intensive care, the second one 1 month after discharge from pediatric intensive care.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The care for a child in pediatric intensive care is recognized as a traumatic experience for the patient and their entourage. The needs and feelings of parents are relatively well supported in the literature. However, there is still too little data concerning siblings, who can nevertheless be impacted by this difficult life experience.

The study consists of conducting two semi-structured interviews, with an estimated duration of 15 to 30 minutes, with siblings of children hospitalized in pediatric intensive care at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital and Robert Debré Hospital. The first interview will take place during the stay in intensive care, the second 1 month after discharge from pediatric intensive care.

The study will concern children and adolescents aged 9 to 18 years old because this is a population at risk in this situation. Concepts of illness, death and its irreversible nature evolve during childhood. By definition, there are three major stages which are: 0-6 years; 7-11 years; 10-18 years. For older children (> 10 years) these definitions are well established and they would be more at risk of presenting psychiatric disorders later (post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive syndrome, etc.).

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

20

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • France
      • Paris, France, 75015
        • Recruiting
        • Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades
        • Contact:
      • Paris, France, 75019

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children and adolescents aged 9 to 18 years whose sister or brother is hospitalized in pediatric intensive care at Necker-Enfants Malades hospital or Robert Debré hospital.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children and adolescents aged 9 to 18 years
  • Whose sister or brother is hospitalized in pediatric intensive care at Necker-Enfants Malades hospital or Robert Debré hospital
  • Holders of parental authority and children or adolescents informed and consenting to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Death of patients
  • Language barrier (French not mastered)
  • Inability to participate in a semi-structured interview (intellectual disability)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Siblings of pediatric intensive care hospitalized children
Siblings of children hospitalized in pediatric intensive care at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital and Robert Debré Hospital, aged of 9 to 18 years old.
Other: Semi-structured interviews

The study consists of conducting two semi-structured interviews, with an estimated duration of 15 to 30 minutes, with siblings of children hospitalized in pediatric intensive care at Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital and Robert Debré Hospital.

The first interview will take place during the stay in intensive care, the second 1 month after discharge from pediatric intensive care.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Needs reported by children
Time Frame: 1 month
Qualitative interpretation of the responses given by children during the two interviews.
1 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Assessment of the impact on the daily life of siblings following their visit to the intensive care unit
Time Frame: 1 month

Assessment of the impact on the daily life of siblings following their visit to the intensive care unit to see their brother/sister.

Qualitative interpretation of the responses given by children during the two interviews.
1 month
Assessment of the feelings during the visit of children and adolescents following the hospitalization of their brother or sister in pediatric intensive care
Time Frame: 1 month

Assessment of the feelings during the visit of children and adolescents following the hospitalization of their brother or sister in pediatric intensive care.

Qualitative interpretation of the responses given by children during the two interviews.
1 month
Assessment of the medium-term impact on the daily life of siblings after the discharge of their brother or sister from intensive care
Time Frame: 1 month

Assessment of the medium-term impact on the daily life of siblings after the discharge of their brother or sister from intensive care.

Qualitative interpretation of the responses given by children during the two interviews.
1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Collaborators

URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Léo MD Berger, Doctor, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
  • Study Director: Agathe MD Béranger, Doctor, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 21, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 21, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 21, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 28, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 28, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

October 29, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 24, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • APHP241201
  • 2024-A01918-39 (Other Identifier: ID RCB number)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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