Effect of video games on preoperative anxiety in 3- to-6-year-old of a sample of Iranian children undergoing elective surgery

As pediatric surgeries are rising and current methods to reduce perioperative anxiety are lacking in preschool children. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of video games on preoperative anxiety in 3‑ to‑6‑year old of a sample of Iranian children undergoing elective surgery children.

In the current quasi‑experimental pretest posttest design, after standard translation, the modified Yale preoperative anxiety scale was administered to 102 children undergoing surgery from December 2016 to August 2017 in Kermanshah, Iran. Children are assigned to an intervention or control group. Each child’s anxiety was measured at two points at the time of arrival and after waiting for 20 min in the holding area. Data were analyzed by SPSS, version 22. The Chi‑square, independent t‑test, and paired t‑test at the significance level of P < 0.05 were performed.

There was no significant difference between the mean anxieties in control group (42.58 ± 18.54) and intervention group (46.11 ± 14.09) before the game (P = 0.282). However, after playing the video game in control groups (53.26 ± 18.00) and game groups (34.88 ± 10.81), there was a significant difference in favor of the video game (P < 0.001).

Findings of the present study suggest that approved video game by experts to decrease mean preoperative anxiety in 3‑ to‑6‑year‑old children. Therefore, video games recommended to be implemented at the preventive level in hospital.