Published online Feb 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i4.774
Peer-review started: October 25, 2020
First decision: November 20, 2020
Revised: December 4, 2020
Accepted: December 17, 2020
Article in press: December 17, 2020
Published online: February 6, 2021
Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood. The number of type 1 diabetes patients in China still ranks fourth in the world. Therefore, children with type 1 diabetes in China are a group that needs attention. The management of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) involves many aspects of daily life. It is extremely challenging for children and their families. T1DM children have complex medical care needs. Despite the continuous development of therapeutic medicine and treatment technologies, blood glucose control in children with T1DM is still not ideal. They and their parents need to acquire more knowledge and skills before being discharged.
The discharge plan can improve caregivers’ readiness for discharge and meet their care needs, thereby improving patient health outcomes and increasing patient satisfaction. combining the needs and experience of home care by caregivers of children with T1DM, constructing a discharge plan for the purpose of improving the discharge preparation of parents of T1DM children has important clinical significance.
This research aimed to explore the impact of hospital discharge plan based on the needs of parents of children with T1DM on discharge readiness, discharge education quality and blood glucose control.
A quasi experimental research study was performed. It adopted a prospective clinical experimental design and divided the research subjects into an intervention group and a control group in the order of admission time. The interventions of the control group were carried out in accordance with the hospital's regular discharge guidance; the intervention group was given hospital discharge plan intervention, including thematic education, skill training and psychological intervention in the hospital and adopted telephone follow-up and WeChat intervention after discharge.
The improvement in parents' discharge readiness, discharge education quality and blood glucose metabolism indicators (glycated hemoglobin, fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose) of children in the intervention group were better than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant.
The hospital discharge plan for children with type 1 diabetes can help children and their families realize the transition from hospital care to self-management at home and improve the preparation of children’s parents for discharge, thereby improving children’s blood glucose control levels.
Our research results showed that the hospital discharge plan for children with type 1 diabetes could effectively improve the preparation of children’s parents for discharge and children’s blood glucose control levels. If the long-term intervention effect is to be observed, the follow-up time should be extended.