Effects of continuous care on children with enterostomy and their families in China

Background: Continuous care for children with enterostomy and their families has been gaining popularity in China. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of continuous care for children with enterostomy and their families in China. Methods: The PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, CNKI, CBM, VIP, and WanFang were searched for clinical trials until December 30, 2025. Two reviewers independently searched articles, evaluated quality and extracted data. This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Results: 33 studies involving 2774 participants were included. The meta-analysis showed that continuous care strategy can significantly reduce the incidence of complications in children with enterostomy (OR = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.16–0.26, p < 0.001, I2 = 0%), effectively improve the family caregiver ability for enterostomy (MD = -10.34, 95% CI= -13.82 to -6.85, p < 0.001, I2 = 99%), shorten the time for family members to replace stoma bags (MD= -13.57, 95% CI=-19.66 to -7.49, p < 0.001, I2 = 100%), and alleviate negative emotions such as anxiety (SMD= -1.80, 95% CI = -2.36 to -1.23, p < 0.001, I2 = 92%) and depression (SMD= -1.54, 95% CI= -2.04 to -1.04, p < 0.001, I2 = 89%) in the families of the affected children. Conclusions: Continuous care can reduce complications of enterostomy in children, improve the family caregiver ability for enterostomy and alleviate negative emotions of family members such as anxiety and depression.