Disclosure of anesthesia information to parents of pediatric patients is often incomplete, and parents' recall of information is poor, according to a study published in Anesthesia & Analgesia.
The study, led by Alan R. Tait, PhD, of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan, recruited parents of children undergoing a variety of elective surgical procedures. The parents were recruited while their child was in surgery and were interviewed to determine their recall of their child's anesthetic plan, postoperative pain management and attendant risks and benefits.
The parents were also surveyed about information they sought and received, as well as how satisfied they were with that information. While the majority (96.2 percent) recalled receiving information about their child's anesthesia administration, only 51.1 percent remembered receiving information about the risks of anesthesia and 42.2 percent recalled how side effects would be managed.
Fifty percent of parents had no recall of the risks of anesthesia, and 55.7 percent had no recall of the benefits.
Read the abstract on the study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.
The study, led by Alan R. Tait, PhD, of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan, recruited parents of children undergoing a variety of elective surgical procedures. The parents were recruited while their child was in surgery and were interviewed to determine their recall of their child's anesthetic plan, postoperative pain management and attendant risks and benefits.
The parents were also surveyed about information they sought and received, as well as how satisfied they were with that information. While the majority (96.2 percent) recalled receiving information about their child's anesthesia administration, only 51.1 percent remembered receiving information about the risks of anesthesia and 42.2 percent recalled how side effects would be managed.
Fifty percent of parents had no recall of the risks of anesthesia, and 55.7 percent had no recall of the benefits.
Read the abstract on the study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.