Anxiety
Conditions
Brief summary
All of the tools currently available for preoperative preparation of children either use a third person approach (i.e., use media whereby they watch a video or look at pictures of another child receiving an anesthetic), provide tours at some time previous to the operation date, or are shown the equipment that they will encounter during their anesthetic. No preoperative programme currently allows the child to experience the entire chain of events from leaving the preoperative preparation area (and their parents), walking to the operating area, being initially prepared for and receiving anesthesia and recovering from anesthesia, in real time and from a first person perspective. As such the investigators are carrying out this study to assess whether virtual reality preoperative preparation is effective in reducing anxiety at induction of anesthesia.
Detailed description
The investigators' goal in this study is to investigate the effects of virtual reality preoperative preparation on anxiety in children at induction of anesthesia. The hypothesis is that utilisation of this novel 1st person immersive preparatory method will lead to an enhanced understanding of what will happen to the child (in addition to what the environment looks and sounds like) when they have their anesthetic. The investigators believe this enhanced understanding and preparation will lead to the reduction in anxiety levels before and during the induction of anesthesia, and will also lead to a reduction in postoperative negative behaviour disorders.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALslideshow
Participants will be shown a slideshow showing a child being prepared for surgery
BEHAVIORALvirtual
Participants will be shown an immersive virtual reality preparation for surgery
Sponsors
The Hospital for Sick Children
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
6 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Patients aged between 6 -18 2. ASA physical status 1-3 3. Admitted for elective surgery (day case and inpatient cases) 4. Cognitively normal
Exclusion criteria
1. ASA physical status 4-5 2. Non-English speaking 3. Significant visual and auditory disorders not allowing them to use the technology 4. Epilepsy 5. Mobility problems that would make using the technology difficult or harmful to them (i.e., reduced movement of neck) 6. Cognitive impairment 7. Postoperative PICU care anticipated
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety in children | Day of surgery, immediately following consent | measured using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) |
| Change in child anxiety | Day of surgery, immediately preceding surgery | measured using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Induction compliance | Day of surgery, immediately preceding surgery | measured using the Induction Compliance Checklist |
| Anesthetic requirements | Day of surgery, intra-operatively | measurement includes recording dose of anesthetic(s) used |
| Post-hospitalization negative behaviours | Two to three days after surgery | measured using the Posthospitalization Behaviour Questionnaire (PHBQ) |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed