Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of an Educational Mobile Application for Home Care After Surgery of Pediatrics With Congenital Heart Disease: A Protocol Study

Abstract

Background & Aims The numerous problems of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and their care burden can reduce the quality of life of parents, especially mothers. Compliance with treatment after discharge from the hospital is crucial. It is necessary to provide home care educational programs for them. Given the advance of technology and the popularity of mobile phone use, this study aims to design an educational mobile application for home care after surgery to improve the quality of life and adherence to treatment in mothers of children with CHD in Iran. Materials & Methods This is a study protocol on 72 mothers of children with CHD referred to the Children’s Medical Center of a hospital (affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences) for surgery. The data collection tools will be a demographic form, the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and Fatemi et al.’s Adherence to Treatment Questionnaire. Data collection will be done before and one month after the intervention. The collected data will be analyzed using mean and standard deviation, independent t-test, paired t-test, chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results The results will be analyzed to assess the effectiveness of the mobile-based educational intervention in improving the quality of life and adherence to treatment of mothers of children with CHD. Conclusion This is the protocol of a study that examines the effect of a mobile-based post-surgery home care training application on the quality of life and adherence to treatment of mothers. The results of such studies can help identify the faster, easier and more effective methods of patient education.