The Effect of an Audiovisual Preoperative Intervention in Reducing Parental Anxiety Prior to a Child's Sedation Appointment: A Pilot Study.

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether an audiovisual intervention was more effective than verbal instructions at reducing preoperative anxiety levels for parents whose children were having their first experience of dental treatment with the use of oral sedation. A prospective clinical trial was conducted. Parents were systematically assigned to either view an animated video (intervention group) or receive standardized verbal instructions (control group). Questionnaires modified from the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale were distributed to parents at the assessment appointment before the preoperative information was given (T0) and again at the subsequent sedation appointment (T1). The change in parental anxiety levels between T0 and T1 was measured (Δ equals T0-T1). A total of 40 subjects comprised of 20 individuals each in the control and intervention group were included in the final analytical data set. There were no significant differences in the effectiveness of reducing preoperative parental anxiety between the audiovisual intervention and the verbal instructions. The audiovisual intervention was effective at reducing preoperative parental anxiety, but the reduction was not significantly different from using verbal instructions. Dentists may wish to incorporate audiovisual aids to supplement verbal instructions during the sedation preoperative consultation.