KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the impact of the WECP on parental mental health in pediatric ALL patients.
- The results indicated WECP effectively reduces parental stress and improves health status, especially among mothers of pediatric ALL patients.
The WeChat-based education and care program emerges as a promising nursing approach for alleviating parental mental stress in pediatric patients’ caregivers.
Hui Duan and the team aimed to investigate how the WeChat education and care program (WECP) affects parental mental health, insomnia, and overall well-being in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients’ parents.
In total, 146 parents of 73 primary pediatric ALL patients were randomized into either the WECP group (comprising 74 parents of 37 patients) or the standard care (SC) group (consisting of 72 parents of 36 patients) to undergo a respective 6-month intervention. Assessment tools including the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) were administered to parents of patients.
The results showed that SAS scores were significantly reduced in the WECP group compared to the SC group at the third month (M3) (P = 0.041) and sixth month (M6) (P = 0.032). The SAS-defined anxiety rate at M6 (P = 0.035) was also lower in the WECP group.
Additionally, SDS scores at M6 were lower in the WECP group (P = 0.024), but there was no difference in SDS-defined depression rate between groups at any time point (all P > 0.05). AIS scores at M1 (P = 0.015) and M6 (P = 0.021), as well as GHQ-12 scores at M3 (P = 0.007) and M6 (P = 0.001), were decreased in the WECP group compared to the SC group. Subgroup analyses revealed that the WECP demonstrated favorable effects at M6 specifically among mothers, but not fathers.
The study suggested that the WECP is a viable and effective intervention for alleviating mental stress and improving the health status of parents caring for pediatric ALL patients, with particular benefits observed among mothers. No funding was granted.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38502341/
Duan, H., Wang, L., Li, H. et al. “The influence of WeChat education and care program on anxiety, depression, insomnia, and general state of health in parents of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients.“ J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 150, 138 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-024-05646-0.
