The effect of applying telehealth education to home care of infants after congenital heart disease surgery.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of applying telehealth education to home care of infants after congenital heart disease (CHD) surgery. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted from July 2020 to February 2021 in Fujian Children's Hospital to compare the home care condition of infants after CHD surgery between the intervention group and the control group. RESULTS: At 3 months after discharge, parents' caring ability and CHD knowledge in the intervention group were significantly better than those in the control group and were significantly improved compared with those at discharge time (P < 0.05). The parental care burden in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group and was significantly lower than that at discharge time (P < 0.05). During the follow-up period, the rate of loss of follow-up and complications in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Telehealth education via WeChat can effectively improve the knowledge of disease and home care ability of parents of infants after CHD surgery and reduce their home care burden, which can effectively reduce the incidence of complications and lost to follow-up rate after discharge.