Effect of Two Techniques of Parental Interaction on Children's Anxiety at Induction of General Anaesthesia-A Randomized Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Several non-pharmacological techniques, such as parental presence and behavioral preparation, are used to decrease children's anxiety at anaesthesia induction. We compared the mean anxiety score in children at the time of anaesthesia induction with two different physical techniques of parental interaction and a control group with no parent present. The secondary objective was to determine the face mask acceptance during induction.
METHODS: This study recruited 123 ASA I & II children, aged 1 to 8 years, undergoing day care surgery, who were randomly allocated to three groups. Children either went to the operating room (OR) alone (Gp C), or one parent sat next to the child at induction (Gp PS), or the child sat in parent's lap (Gp PH). The anxiety score on the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) was recorded in the preinduction area of OR and at the induction of anaesthesia before the face mask application. A cut-off value of less than 30 indicated low anxiety. The face mask acceptance was also rated.
RESULTS: All patients had the mYPAS scores higher than 30 in the preinduction area with no significant difference between groups. Prior to induction, the Gp C score was significantly high as compared to Gp PS (p=0.016) and Gp PH (p=0.001), but it was not different between the Gp PS and PH (p=1.00). The face mask acceptance was easy in 4.9 % patients in Gp C, 26.8% in Gp PS, and 56% in Gp PH.
CONCLUSION: Parental presence during induction did not prevent children's anxiety, but it reduced it, irrespective of the physical technique used. The face mask acceptance was better in Gp PH.