{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,16]],"date-time":"2025-05-16T10:29:46Z","timestamp":1747391386709,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]],"date-time":"2024-09-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727049600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) affects nearly half of infants. Parents play a crucial role in management but more understanding of their attitudes and experiences is needed to inform future education, support and research. This study aims to explore parental experiences, attitudes and understanding of the symptoms, diagnosis and management of infant GOR.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 9 parents of infants with GOR in the UK, analysed by thematic analysis.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>8 participants were mothers and median age was 34 years. Over half identified as White ethnicity. Parents described that GOR can affect all aspects of life, including mental wellbeing and bonding with their baby. Medications are time-consuming to prepare and can cause challenging side effects such as constipation. It is crucial that health professionals manage parental expectations in that treatments are not curative and symptoms do not last forever. Attitudes about healthcare professionals varied: some were perceived as dismissive, whilst some showed understanding. There were differences depending on whether the child was a first or second born child, with more understanding shown where the child was not the parents\u2019 first born. Parents felt more education could be beneficial for parents and clinicians.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Infant GOR can affect infants and parents in a variety of ways, impacting both physical and mental health. Parents play a vital role in the management of infant reflux, but there is lack of consistency of information and levels of knowledge among healthcare professionals vary. More education could be beneficial, and further research is needed into health professionals\u2019 perceptions and fathers\u2019 experiences.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0309081","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]],"date-time":"2024-09-23T17:23:14Z","timestamp":1727112194000},"page":"e0309081","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Exploring parents\u2019 experiences, attitudes and understanding of gastro-oesophageal reflux in infants"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Kathryn","family":"McVicar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lisa","family":"Szatkowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shalini","family":"Ojha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2242-9452","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Simon","family":"Tunster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1990-5948","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Manpreet","family":"Bains","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0309081.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e000262","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjpo-2018-000262","article-title":"Feed thickeners in gastro-oesophageal reflux in infants","volume":"2","author":"TC Kwok","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ Paediatr Open"},{"key":"pone.0309081.ref002","unstructured":"National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. 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