RESEARCH Approximately four million children undergo procedures with anesthesia yearly. For children and parents, this can be anxiety-provoking. In extant literature, level and timing of pre-anesthesi..
RESEARCH Approximately four million children undergo procedures with anesthesia yearly. For children and parents, this can be anxiety-provoking. In extant literature, level and timing of pre-anesthesia anxiety in children are not adequately studied; associated factors are largely unknown in humans. Preparing for anesthesia and its effects may cause parental worry, and little is known about these effects on school-age children in the weeks following a procedure. The purpose of this study was to explore longitudinal peri-anesthesia factors of anxiety and behavior in children ages 7 through 12. Spanish and English-speaking dyads consented to four data collection points beginning at the pre-anesthesia clinic (visit #1) when the Zero to Ten visual analog scale for child anxiety and the adult State Anxiety scale were administered. The child scale was repeated on procedure day (visit #2). The Post Hospitalization Behavior Scale for Ambulatory Surgery was administered to parents two and four weeks after anesthesia. Using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, parametric, and nonparametric analysis, results of the first 66 dyads reveal children have significantly higher (2nd quartile) anxiety on visit #2 compared to visit #1 (p
