ABSTRACT

Background: Severe anxiety experienced due to surgical intervention negatively affects the participation of children in their own care and their cooperation with health professionals. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the using interactive robots in children who will be undergoing daily surgery, in reducing postoperative anxiety of the children, ensuring their participation in postoperative mobilization, and increasing the satisfaction of the parents with the postoperative care.

Method: This prospective and randomized controlled study was conducted with 84 children aged 5-10 years and their parents, who undergoing daily surgery at Trakya University Health Research and Application Center, Pediatric Surgery Clinic, between 01 June 2020 – 10 April 2022. ntervention and control groups were determined randomly. The interactive robot, which was introduced to the children in the intervention group before the surgery, was provided to accompany the children during the postoperative mobilization. Data were collected using the “Questionnaire Form” and “Child Anxiety Scale-Statefulness (ÇAS-D)” and Parental Satisfaction Scoring-Visual Analog Scale-

(VAS” and “Mobilization Chart”.

Results: It was determined that the ÇAS-D scores of the children in the control group were higher than the intervention group before their first mobilization after surgery (p=0,005). During the first (p=0.042) and second (p=0.012) mobilization, it was determined that the mobilization duration of the children in the intervention group was longer than the children in the control group. It was found that the parents of the children in the intervention group had a high level of satisfaction with the post-operative nursing care as well as the care for mobilization.

Conclusion: It has been determined that interactive robots have a positive effect on postoperative mobilization in children undergoing daily surgery, reduce the anxiety level of children before mobilization, and increase the duration of release and mobilization. In addition, the use of interactive robots increased parents’ satisfaction with post-operative mobilization care. It is recommended that nurses should use interactive robots to reduce the stress and anxiety of children during surgical intervention processes, which is a stressful situation for children, and to improve their recovery by providing early mobilization.

Keywords: Anxiety, Pediatric surgery, Parental satisfaction, Day surgery, Mobilization