Impact of the establishment of follow-up center on perceived vulnerability and anxiety in the parents of children with congenital heart disease undergoing interventional therapy

Abstract

Objective To investigate the impact of establishing a follow-up center on the perception of vulnerability and anxiety in the parents of children of congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing interventional therapy. Methods A total of 80 parents of children with CHD undergoing interventional therapy in the Cardiology Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from September 2017 to December 2017 were selected as study subjects by purposive sampling method. The parents of the children admitted to hospital from September to October in 2017 were the control group, while the parents of children in the period from November to December in 2017 were the experimental group. The control group were given general discharge guidance, and the intervention group was included in the Follow-up Center for intervention. Parent Perception of Vulnerability Scale and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) were applied to evaluate the intervention effects. Results There was no statistical significance in the difference in scores of Parent Perception of Vulnerability Scale between the two groups before intervention (P>0.05) . The scores of Parent Perception of Vulnerability Scale at the time of discharge and 3 months after intervention of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P 0.05) . At the time of discharge and 3 months after intervention, the score of SAS was lower in the experimental group than in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05) . Conclusions Setting up the Follow-up Center for parents of children can effectively reduce the perceived vulnerability and anxiety of them, and it is suggested that they should be further popularized and applied clinically. Key words: Child; Anxiety; Congenital heart disease; Perceived vulnerability; Parents