OBJECTIVE: To analyze presurgical worries in children and adolescents and to examine differences according to gender and prior surgical experience. METHOD: The child sample included 1,311 subjects, aged 7-10 years old, and the (pre)adolescent sample included 1,488 subjects, aged 11-14 years old. The child sample filled in the child version of the Surgical worries Questionnaire (CPCI-N; Quiles, Ortigosa and Méndez, 1998), with 17 items and a three-point rating scale, and the adolescent sample filled in the adolescent version (CPCI-A, Quiles, Méndez and Ortigosa, 1998), with 22 items and a five-point rating scale. Student's t-test was carried out to analyze the main worries and an analysis of variance was used to examine the effect of gender. RESULTS: Children's and adolescents' main worries concerned the surgical process, the negative results of surgery and the negative consequences of illness. However, the younger children showed other significant worries such as having a needle in the arm for a long time or separating from their parents. In both samples, girls and subjects without previous experience of surgery showed higher levels of pre-surgical worries. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss the implications of these results for the development of programs of psychological preparation for children and adolescents about to undergo surgery.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze presurgical worries in children and adolescents and to examine differences according to gender and prior surgical experience. METHOD: The child sample included 1,311 subjects, aged 7-10 years old, and the (pre)adolescent sample included 1,488 subjects, aged 11-14 years old. The child sample filled in the child version of the Surgical worries Questionnaire (CPCI-N; Quiles, Ortigosa and Méndez, 1998), with 17 items and a three-point rating scale, and the adolescent sample filled in the adolescent version (CPCI-A, Quiles, Méndez and Ortigosa, 1998), with 22 items and a five-point rating scale. Student's t-test was carried out to analyze the main worries and an analysis of variance was used to examine the effect of gender. RESULTS:Children's and adolescents' main worries concerned the surgical process, the negative results of surgery and the negative consequences of illness. However, the younger children showed other significant worries such as having a needle in the arm for a long time or separating from their parents. In both samples, girls and subjects without previous experience of surgery showed higher levels of pre-surgical worries. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss the implications of these results for the development of programs of psychological preparation for children and adolescents about to undergo surgery.
Authors: Weiwei Liu; Rui Xu; Ji'e Jia; Yilei Shen; Wenxian Li; Lulong Bo Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-08-09 Impact factor: 4.614