The effect of presence of parents upon pain severity during medical dressing procedure

OBJECTIVE: Pain, an unpleasant feeling, may be caused by the disease itself as well as many other care procedures. Dressing is just one of these procedures and the one that causes pain most. The current study aimed to determine the effect of presence of parents with their children upon pain severity caused by dressing procedure. METHOD: The sample of the study, which was descriptive and comparative, was composed of 60 inpatient patients treated at the pediatric surgery clinics of Balcalı Hospital of Çukurova University and Adana Numune Education and Research Hospital. Before the study, the ethical suitability of the research was approved by Ethical Councils of the institutions. The data were collected using "Individual Characteristics Form" and "FLACC scale (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability)" through observation and face to face interview technique. For the data analyses; Pearson Chi-Square test, Fisher's Exact test and Mann Whitney U test were employed. Results were considered significant at p<0.05 and confidence interval was set at 95%. FINDINGS: It was identified that presence of parents with their children during medical dressing did not affect pain severity and behavioral pain symptoms significantly. Also; gender (X2=0.071; p=0.500>0.05) and age (X2=6.133; p=0.105>0.05) did not affect perceived pain severity in the presence/absence of parents with their children during dressing. In terms of support type given by the parents to the children during the painful procedure; 13 parents (43.4%) watched the procedure from a distance. It was noted that mean dressing time of the children differed significantly in terms of parent-variable and dressing time for those whose parents were present was longer (7.5 minutes) than others whose parents were absent (6.3 minutes). RESULTS: In the current study; it was seen that presence of parents with children during medical dressing procedure did not affect pain severity, presence of parents prolonged dressing time and parents used watching the procedure from a distance as a support sign. The findings obtained from the study will be used as evidence for the pain assessment and pain treatment in children during dressing procedure at the institutions where the study was conducted. Key Words: Dressing procedure, pain severity, child, parent