Determinants in parents' decision to use blended diets with gastrostomy-fed children and young people: A mixed methods study.

Abstract

Children fed via a gastrostomy are provided with commercial produced formula feeds. They are not offered blended diet (BD) as an alternative, and it is not formally supported in the UK due to concerns regarding nutritional content, contamination and tube blockages. Despite this increasing numbers of families are opting to use BD. To discover why parents opt to use of BD with their children and young people who are fed via gastrostomy. This mixed methods study comprised a qualitative phase of 18 in-depth interviews with parents who were using BD with their child. The quantitative phase comprised a survey of 208 parents, 140 of whom used BD and 68 did not use BD. The in-depth interviews identified four overarching themes that influenced parents' decision to use BD; loss, conflict, empowerment and quality of life. Responses from the survey revealed differences between those who did and did not use BD in levels of self-efficacy, views about formula feeds, rating of their child's health and stools. Concerns about formula feeds and less perceived need for it are key determiners in parents' decision to use BD. These views are influenced by social constructs and individual beliefs and circumstances. Those using BD were more likely to rate their child's stools as being normal and rated their child's health more highly than those not using BD.