Quality of Life and Anxiety Levels in Children after Day Surgery


ERDOĞDU YILDIRIM A. B., Varlikli O.

DUSUNEN ADAM-JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES, cilt.25, sa.4, ss.312-320, 2012 (ESCI) identifier identifier

Özet

Objective: Day surgery distinguishes from major surgery with the low risk of complications and short healing time after the intervention. Children's and their mothers' anxiety levels increase and children's quality of life diminishes after major surgeries. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the anxiety levels of the children and their mothers', and the children's quality of life before and one month after the day surgery. Method: In our study, 32 children (6 girls, 26 boys) aged 7-12 years who were hospitalized for day surgery in Children Surgery Clinic of Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital constituted the sample group. Before the day surgery, Childhood Behavior Checklist; before and one month after the day surgery, State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), State and Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAI-C), and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL)-parent report were completed. Results: There was not any significant difference between the scores of STAI, STAI-C, PedsQL total scale and PedsQL physical health summary before the day surgery and one month after the day surgery. The psychosocial health summary score (PSS) before the day surgery was found to be higher than the PSS one month after the day surgery. STAI total score predicted PSS score. Conclusion: It was revealed that after day surgery, children's psychosocial quality of life deteriorates and it was affected by maternal anxiety level. Therefore, mothers should be informed about the consequences of surgical operation and precautions should be taken to protect the academic skills, peer relationships, and family functioning of children.