The effect of planned education provided to parents of children scheduled for hypospadias surgery on their anxiety levels and satisfaction

ABSTRACT "The Effect of Planned Education Provided to Parents of Children Scheduled for Hypospadias Surgery on Their Anxiety Levels and Satisfaction", Trakya University, Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Master's Thesis, Edirne, 2024. Introduction and Objective: Surgical procedures are situations that cause stress and anxiety for both children and their parents. Providing information is crucial in reducing the anxiety experienced by parents and children. The prospect of their child undergoing surgery can evoke fear of the unknown, fear of what will happen to the child, concerns about body image, fear of death, helplessness, anger, and feelings of guilt in parents. This study was conducted to determine the effect of planned education provided to the parents of children scheduled for hypospadias surgery and hospitalized in the pediatric surgery unit on their anxiety levels and satisfaction. Material and Methods: The study is a randomized controlled intervention study conducted with 100 parents at Trakya University Health Research and Application Hospital's Pediatric Surgery Clinic between July 15 and December 15, 2023. The research consisted of two groups: an intervention group (n=50) and a control group (n=50). Parents in the intervention group were provided with information about hypospadias surgery based on the educational booklet titled "My Child is Undergoing Hypospadias Surgery" and had their questions answered. In contrast, parents in the control group received routine care services provided during the hypospadias surgery process. Data collection tools included the "Child and Family Information Form," the "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory," and the "PedsQL Healthcare Parent Satisfaction Scale (PedsQL HPSS)." The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS V23 software with descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U, Independent Samples t, Wilcoxon Signed Rank, Paired Samples t-test, Pearson's and Spearman's rho correlation coefficients. Results: The median post-test scores of the state anxiety scale in the intervention group were found to be lower than those in the control group (p=0.003). No statistically significant difference was found between the median post-test scores of the trait anxiety scale (p=0.215). The total median score of the PedsQL SBEMÖ in the intervention group was found to be higher than that in the control group (p<0.001). A statistically weak negative relationship was found between the 'communication' subscale score and the post-test score of the trait anxiety scale in the parents in the intervention group (r=-0.284; p=0.046). Conclusion: The study found that the planned education applied to the parents of children who would undergo hypospadias surgery reduced their state anxiety levels, had no effect on their trait anxiety levels, and increased their health care satisfaction. Keywords: hypospadias surgery, anxiety, parental satisfaction, education, nursing care