In a recent study published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, caregivers of children with gastrostomy tubes (G-tubes) had an adequate level of health literacy, meaning they understood basic health information well enough to care for their child’s G-tube at home.
Adults and children with thymidine kinase 2 deficiency (TK2d) may need a G-tube — a feeding tube put into the stomach — if they have trouble swallowing or have a high risk of food going into their lungs. While G-tubes are an important tool for keeping many patients healthy, caregivers must learn how to manage them properly at home to avoid problems like infections or tube blockages.
This study looked at 49 caregivers of children who received new G-tubes at Children’s Hospital Colorado between November 2024 and July 2025. Researchers used a quiz called the Parental Health Literacy Activities Test (PHLAT-8) to measure each caregiver’s health literacy. They also checked medical records 30 days after surgery to see how many caregivers called the clinic, visited the emergency room or experienced complications.
Most caregivers scored well on the quiz, with a median score of six out of eight. The hardest question for caregivers involved addition and subtraction. Caregivers with more education or higher household incomes scored higher on the quiz. Caregivers who completed the quiz in Spanish scored lower than those who completed it in English.
Importantly, the study did not find any connection between how well caregivers understood health information and how often their children needed medical help or had G-tube complications.
Read more about TK2d treatment and care
It is important to note that the researchers did not directly test whether caregivers actually knew how to take care of a G-tube. Instead, they looked at things like emergency room visits and clinic calls as a way to gauge how well they were managing. “Future studies with direct evaluation of caregivers’ abilities to manage newly placed G-tubes in children are necessary to validate these results and verify the association with health literacy and outcomes,” the researchers said.
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