Impact of pediatric critical illness and injury on families: a systematic literature review.

Objective: We sought to inform decision-making for children and families by describing what is known and remains unknown about the impact of childhood critical illness and injury on families. This report also was designed as a tool for research planning and design so that meaningful studies are performed and duplication is avoided.

Design: After a national scholarship competition and the identification of 3 medical student summer scholars, a literature search was conducted by using the National Library of Medicine and a PubMed keyword search system at the National Institutes of Health.