Evaluation of satisfaction level by parents and children following pediatric anesthesia

Abstract

Background: Research in the field of patient satisfaction first took place in the 1980s in the USA, and later in Europe, aimed at meeting competitive requirements in the field of health care. Very few studies of this type exist in regard to pediatric anesthesia. Our aim was to develop a rapidly interpretable questionnaire to measure the level of parental satisfaction when their children undergo surgery and provide information on those factors triggering anxiety in these children.

Methods: Over a period of 18 months 179 parents of children in pediatric surgery responded to 214 questionnaires designed to investigate principally the emotional/behavioral spheres as well as the comfort provided.

Results and conclusions: We found that parents generally expressed a high degree of satisfaction which was good and correlated significantly with environmental comfort and postoperative observations performed by anesthetists and nursing staff. In the children, lack of fear at the moment of being anesthetized, and lack of anxiety on the day preceding surgery, were attributed to the serenity transmitted by the anesthetist and nurses. Significant anxiety resulted from the fear of an unpleasant impact with the operating room.