Timing It Right theory-based staged video education for patients on home enteral nutrition: A randomized controlled...

Home enteral nutrition (HEN) is life-sustaining but poses long-term management challenges. One-time discharge education often fails to meet patients' evolving post-discharge needs. Video support offers a promising solution, yet its application in HEN rarely rests on a theoretical foundation to guide when and how support is delivered.

This prospective, two-arm randomized controlled trial randomly assigned 100 eligible patients in a 1:1 ratio to Timing It Right (TIR)-based staged video education (intervention) or video access at discharge (control). Outcomes (quality of life as the primary outcome; anxiety, depression, functional status, patient satisfaction, complications, readmissions as secondary outcomes) were assessed at baseline, 1 and 3 months. Data were analyzed with generalized estimating equations.

The intervention group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in functional status (KPS) and reductions in anxiety (SAS) and depression (SDS) scores over time compared with the control group (all P ≤ 0.001), as well as an improvement in patient satisfaction (PSQ-18, P < 0.05). No significant differences were found in quality of life (NutriQoL), readmission rates, or complication incidence. Video engagement data indicated high interest in self-management and complication content.

A TIR-based staged video intervention is feasible and effective for improving key patient-centered outcomes in HEN. Tailored information at critical post-discharge timepoints addresses evolving needs. Future research should include multicenter trials with longer follow-up and integrate multidimensional support to enhance quality of life.