The effectiveness of age-appropriate pre-operative information session on the anxiety level of school-age children undergoing elective surgery in Jordan.

BACKGROUND: Undergoing surgery is an anxious experience for children. Applying anxiety reduction age-appropriate programs by nurses would be beneficial in reducing anxiety to children.

AIM: To test the effectiveness of age-appropriate preoperative information session in reducing anxiety levels of school-age children undergoing elective surgery in Jordan.

DESIGN: The study used a quasi-experimental design.

METHODS: One hundred and twenty-six children were recruited from an educational hospital in Amman from January to June 2012 and were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The anxiety levels of children were assessed using the State Anxiety Scale for children, and children's levels of cooperation after surgery were assessed using Children Emotional Manifestation Scale. The heart rate and blood pressure of children were also measured 1 hour before going to operation room.

RESULTS: The study results revealed that children in the intervention group reported lower anxiety levels and more cooperation than children in the control group. Also, they displayed lower heart rate and blood pressure than children in the control group.

CONCLUSION: The application of age-appropriate preoperative intervention for children could be beneficial in decreasing anxiety levels and increasing their cooperation post surgery.