Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Canada.
Can J Anaesth. 2010 Aug;57(8):751-8. doi: 10.1007/s12630-010-9333-1. Epub 2010 May 25.
To examine the utility of parental presence to alleviate anxiety in a narrow age range of children undergoing outpatient surgery. We hypothesized that parental presence would lower anxiety scores as measured by the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) at two time-points during pediatric outpatient surgery, i.e., separation from parents and placement of the face mask for anesthetic induction.
Sixty-one children ages three to six years scheduled for various day surgery procedures participated in this study. The children were assigned randomly to either parental presence (n = 30) or parental absence (n = 31) groups. Observer-rated anxiety was measured by the mYPAS at five time-points during the surgery experience.
Child anxiety was significantly lower in the parental presence group than in the parental absence group at the time-point when the children in the parental absence group were separated from their parents, t[59] = 2.15 (P = 0.001). However, no significant group differences in anxiety scores were noted at other time-points.
Our results suggest that anxiety levels in children undergoing day surgical procedures differ as a function of parental presence at the point when children are separated from parents. Future research should examine the types of interactions that occur during this time-point that may explain this finding.
考察在小儿门诊手术的特定年龄范围内，父母在场对缓解焦虑的作用。我们假设，父母在场会降低小儿门诊手术过程中两个时间点的改良耶鲁术前焦虑量表（mYPAS）的焦虑评分，即与父母分离和放置面罩进行麻醉诱导时。
61 名 3 至 6 岁的儿童参与了这项研究，他们被安排接受各种日间手术。这些儿童被随机分配到父母在场（n = 30）或父母不在场（n = 31）组。观察者评定的焦虑程度在手术过程中的五个时间点通过 mYPAS 进行测量。
在父母不在场组的儿童与父母分离时，儿童的焦虑明显低于父母在场组，t[59] = 2.15（P = 0.001）。然而，在其他时间点，焦虑评分没有显著的组间差异。
我们的研究结果表明，在与父母分离时父母在场与否会影响行日间手术的儿童的焦虑水平。未来的研究应探讨在此时间点发生的可能解释这一发现的互动类型。
