The effect of blended training on the quality of life of children with nephrotic syndrome

BACKGROUND: Nephrotic syndrome is a common nephrology disorder in children that can affect the quality of health of children and adolescents significantly. Training children with nephrotic syndrome with special emphasis on the use of blended training can provide new opportunities for improving the quality of life of these subjects. The present study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of blended training on quality of life in children with nephrotic syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present non-randomized clinical trial was carried out, in a time period from January 2012 to June 2013, on 76 children aged 8–12 years with nephrotic syndrome; the subjects were through continuous sampling. The intervention group subjects were selected from the Ali Asghar and Pediatric Medical Centers and the control group subjects were selected from the Mofid Hospital of Tehran. The control group received only previous routine interventions, but the intervention group, in addition to previous routine interventions, received part of the training for nephrotic syndrome. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (generic core scales) questionnaire was implemented in the present study. Collected data were analyzed by the SPSS 21; t-test and paired t-test were used to compare the mean scores of the two groups. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of quality of life before intervention; but, the quality of life of the intervention group increased to the control group after intervention (P-value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Blended training can improve the quality of life of children with chronic diseases. Therefore, it is recommended to carry out educational intervention for parents of these children in order to increase their coping skills.