Interpretation and Discussion of Findings
- The results of research question 1. Changes in Anxiety/Fear from Pre-to-Post-Intervention by Groups
- The PPPI group reported significantly less state anxiety/fear the evening before surgery (posttest) than
the first hour after admission (pretest).
- The control group had the same level of state anxiety/fear the evening before surgery as compared to
the first hour after admission.
- The most important reasons to support this evidence is that hospitalized Thai school age children with
no previous experience of hospitalization and surgery had the study PPPI before surgery.
- Psychological and emotional preoperative preparation is not the primary institutional concern in many
Thai hospitals when Thai children are hospitalized for surgery.
- Children and families received information concerning their surgery from the doctors.
- Pediatric surgical nurses provided the physical preoperative preparation to each child as instructed by
the surgeons.
- A nurse anesthetist visited each hospitalized Thai school age patient of this study in the evening before
surgery for assessing the child’s physical health and provided information regarding anesthesia.
- There is a lack of special psychological and emotional preoperative preparation programs, such as child
life program, to prepare hospitalized Thai children and families before hospitalization and surgery.
- Therefore, introducing the PPPI to the experimental participants of this study even the day before
surgery resulted in reduced state anxiety/CMFS at post-intervention, whereas the participants who received usual preoperative care showed the same level of state anxiety/CMFS at post-intervention