Preocupaciones prequirúrgicas: estudio empírico con población infantil y adolescente

Abstract

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 11-14years 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.