Effectiveness of mobile phone application-based social support for chinese stroke caregivers: A Randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Stroke is a major public health concern worldwide. Stroke caregivers’ unpreparedness to perform caregiving for their stroke survivors contributes to negative mental health consequences like caregiver burden and depression. Therefore, enhancing care preparedness is essential for stroke caregivers to reduce these consequences. This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Mobile Phone Application-Based Social Support program on caregiver burden and depression for stroke caregivers. Participants were 80 stroke caregivers of stroke survivors who received treatment at Zhenjiang First People’s Hospital, Jiangsu Province, China and met the inclusion criteria. All participants were randomly assigned equally into an experimental group or a control group (40 persons each). The experimental group received the Mobile Phone Application-Based Social Support program developed by the researcher based on the trajectory conceptual framework combined with social support, whereas the control group received usual care practices. Data were collected using the Chinese version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-C) immediately after the program’s end and the Chinese version of the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9-C) at baseline and at one month post-program. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, independent sample t-test, paired sample t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test. The study results were as follows: 1. Participants receiving the Mobile Phone Application-Based Social Support program had significantly lower caregiver burden immediately after the program than those receiving usual care practices (p < .05). 2. Participants receiving the Mobile Phone Application-Based Social Support program had significantly lower depression at one month post-program than before and lower depression than those receiving usual care practices at one month post-program (p < .05). The findings of this study provide new knowledge about a trajectory-based support program for stroke caregivers that nurses can use to decrease caregiver burden and depression by improving care preparedness.