Preparing children for surgery--an integrative research review.

The purpose of this integrative research review was to determine the methodological and substantive characteristics of the research pertaining to preparation of children for surgery, examine pertinent research issues, and suggest recommendations for future research and practice. A total of 400 articles were reviewed using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twenty-two studies, published between 1974 and 1995, met the criteria and, therefore, constituted the study corpus. The total sample comprised 1,263 subjects. Findings indicate that further research is needed to examine the efficacy of preparation strategies, address diverse populations, and include patient and parent involvement in the preparation process.