WeChat-assisted health education and preoperative care improve the mental state of parents of children with ventricular septal defect

Abstract

ABSTRACT Many studies have shown that parents of children with congenital heart disease have more stress, anxiety and depression. This study was aimed to explore the effect of implementing WeChat-assisted health education and preoperative care on parents of children with the restrictive ventricular septal defect to improve the psychological state. A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted in a provincial hospital in China. Participants were randomly divided into an intervention group and a control group to explore the psychological state of parents of children with the restricted ventricular septal defect. Before surgery, the state-trait anxiety inventory scale score (STAI) of the WeChat group were 26.8 ± 8.2 and 27.3 ± 7.0, which were significantly higher than those of the leaflet group (37.6 ± 12.9 and 39.3 ± 11.7). Compared with the STAI score at the first visit, the WeChat group preoperative score was significantly lower (P < 0.05). The rate of loss to follow-up in the WeChat group (0%) was significantly lower than that of the leaflet group (14.3%). The complication of the leaflet group was significantly higher than that of the WeChat group. Health education and preoperative care for parents of children with restrictive ventricular septal defect through WeChat can effectively improve the parents’ mental state and reduce the incidence of complications and the rate of loss to follow-up.