Follow-up of health education based on WeChat platform on anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with pulmonary nodules: a single-center study

Objective: The influence of health education based on WeChat platform on anxiety, depression and quality of life (QoL) of patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPNs). Method: IPNs from January 2020 to June 2022 were selected for follow-up. Self-questionnaire was used to subjectively evaluate patients' mental state, ASA and SDS questionnaires were used to objectively evaluate anxiety and depression, Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form was used to evaluate patients' fear of disease, and SF-36 was used to evaluate patients' QoL. Results: After 6 months of follow-up, the WeChat group felt significantly less mental stress and sleep disturbance, fewer CT scans and multiple doctor visits than the traditional group; The anxiety, depression and fear of disease in the WeChat group was significantly less than that of the traditional group. The HRQoL of the two groups at 6 months of follow-up, the HRQoL of the WeChat group was lower than that of the traditional group. Conclusion: WeChat-based health education can effectively reduce anxiety and depression, improve disease fear, and improve HRQoL for patients with IPN; at the same time, it can reduce unnecessary radiation times.