Parental decisional regret after surgical treatment in young boys born with hypospadias.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Parental decisional conflict and decisional regret are aspects in parental adjustment to childhood elective surgery. This study assessed correlates of parental decisional regret in parents of young boys treated for hypospadias.

METHODS

Parents of 261 boys treated for hypospadias at the Radboudumc between 2006 and 2014 were approached to complete questionnaires on socio-demographics, clinical details, postoperative outcomes, decisional conflict and decisional regret.

RESULTS

Of the 97 participating parents, 50.5% reported some form of decisional regret, in 11.3% this was moderate to strong. Decisional conflict (β = .68, p < .001) and psychosocial behavior problems of the child (β = .20, p < .05) significantly predicted decisional regret. Demographic and medical variables did not correlate with parental decisional regret.

CONCLUSIONS

A substantial number of parents report some form of decisional regret regarding the elective surgery for hypospadias in their child. Although most parents only show mild forms of regret, in the perspective of discussions on this surgery in early childhood, future research could shed more light on the interrelationship between medical and psychosocial factors in the process of decision-making around surgery, in boys with hypospadias and their parents.