Impact of preoperative education program on parental anxiety: A pilot project

Background: Hospitalization and surgery are stressful experiences for children and their parents. Parents are disturbed and anxious when their child is hospitalized and waiting for a surgery. Objective: To assess the impact of preoperative education program on parental anxiety. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study with a time-series design was conducted in a selected hospital. Using purposive sampling technique, 12 parents of children undergoing surgery were selected as study participants and were segregated into two groups–experimental and control groups – with six participants in each group. The experimental group received preoperative education program, whereas the control group received routine care. Parental anxiety was measured using state trait anxiety inventory on admission, prior to shifting the child to the operation theatre (OT), 6 h, 24 h, and 48 h after the surgery, respectively. Results: The mean anxiety score of parents were less in the experimental group compared to the control group after the intervention. A significant change was observed in the mean score of parental anxiety over the period of time in the experimental group (F(4,20)= 58.628, P = 0.001). The calculated t-value was significant at the time points, that is, from admission to prior to shifting the child to the OT (P = 0.001), from admission to 6 h after the surgery (P = 0.000), from admission to 24 h after the surgery (P = 0.001), and from admission to 48 h after the surgery (P = 0.004) between the groups. Conclusion: The preoperative education program has shown to be effective in reducing parental anxiety and can be effectively used in pediatric surgical units to support the parents.