https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4701-6558
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Abstract
Purpose
The objective of the study was to investigate if a playful situational game (PSG) intervention, as a perioperative procedure, could effectively alleviate stress and anxiety and improve postoperative outcomes for children to receive ophthalmic surgeries.
Methods
This trial enrolled 153 children, among which 116 met inclusion criteria and were randomized to control (n = 58, who did not participate in PSG) or PSG group (n = 58, who participated PSG). In the PSG group, children were arranged in renovated wards and allocated to play situational games specifically designed to improve surgery readiness. Satisfaction of the care from parents, posthospitalization behavioral change incidences, Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (YPAS) scores, induction compliance checklist (ICC) scores, and pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) scores were documented as postoperative assessments.
Results
The PSG group demonstrated significantly higher satisfaction of the care from the parents (p = 0.004), and posthospitalization behavioral change incidences were markedly rarer in the PSG group (p = 0.015). The YPAS scores of the PSG group showed a slower increase compared to the control group before and after surgery (p < 0.001). ICC and PAED scores were also lower in the PSG group (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
Our data could support that PSG is an effective intervention in alleviating the anxiety of children undergoing ophthalmic surgery and PSG can increase the satisfaction rate among patients and decrease behavioral change incidences. The adoption of PSG in children could potentially been promoted in the clinical setting.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Data availability statement
The data could be obtained upon request to the corresponding author.