Strengths and limitations
obesity, chronic illness
DISEASE, OBESITY, CHRONIC ILLNESS
To the best of our knowledge, no other national study focuses on the group of children and adolescents with a chronic illness during the COVID-19 pandemic.The KICK-COVID study and its expected results must be viewed in light of its strengths and weaknesses. A major strength of our approach is the large expected sample size. The short economic questionnaire aims to reach as many of those affected as possible. The large sample size makes it possible to make statements that are as representative as possible, not only in relation to the respective underlying physical disease, but also across the disease groups in order to identify generic and condition-specific patterns. In addition, the extended psychosocial web survey will enrich our database by providing more detailed information on the psychosocial situation and coping strategies of the families. Of note, a follow-up over 1 year will allow us to examine short and longer-term effects and different trajectories over time.With respect to the limitations of the study, it should be mentioned that a self-selection of interested clinicians and patients cannot be ruled out. Thus, clinicians might not approach certain patients, either because they may perceive these persons as too distressed or because they believe that the afflicted patients do not have any problems. Especially, a bias regarding the inclusion of the high-risk group in the obesity sample can be expected for the basic survey and the extended survey in particular. Due to organizational reasons, we are not able to implement the questionnaires as obligatory, and we could not offer monetary compensation for the clinics and patients to mitigate this effect. However, we are aiming for a large sample that may be able to compensate for this effect. Furthermore, the data already available from the registers allow us to characterize our sample in relation to the total population. Of course, self-selection could be even more pronounced when parents are invited to fill in the questionnaire. Due to ethical reasons and German data protection law regulations, we have to ask the parents to forward the children’s questionnaire with their consent to their children.Taken together, the results of the proposed study will provide empirical data on how to support families with a child suffering from a CC and contribute to a more successful and sustainable health system. The identification of determining factors for positive adjustment will offer new opportunities for interventions. The prospective design will not only allow the detection of acute and delayed long-term effects, but also the analysis of mediating and moderator influences.