Preanesthetic maternal anxiety of 0 – 12 years old children who will undergo anesthesia and the contributing factors

Emotional stress, such as seen in preanesthetic anxiety, often occurs in parents and children who will undergo surgery and anesthesia. Preanesthetic anxiety is a subjective feeling associated with increased autonomic nervous system activity. Preanesthetic anxiety experienced by parents can be passed onto their children and have a negative impact on a child such as the occurrence of post anesthesia behaviour disorders. In Indonesia, data about preanesthetic maternal anxiety is still unavailable. The purpose of this study is to determine the proportion of preanesthetic maternal anxiety and the contributing factors. After obtaining ethical approval from Health Research Ethics Committee of FKUI-RSCM, 144 mothers of children aged 0 – 12 years at preoperative clinic Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital who were scheduled to undergo anesthesia, were interviewed using an anxiety disorders interview guide MINI (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) ICD-10. The anxiety scores were assessed using the VAS (Visual Analogue Scale). Results were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. A total of 70 mothers (48,6%) had anxiety disorders with VAS score ranging between 3- 8 mm. Preanesthetic maternal anxiety is influenced by the child’s age (p = 0.001), history of previous anesthesia on the child (p = 0.004), and number of children (p = 0.041). Mothers with infants are 7.9 times more likely to experience higher anxiety (adjusted OR = 7.982), but because of the wide range of confidence interval (95% CI = 2.599 to 24.512) other factors may also influence the preanesthetic maternal anxiety. Preanesthetic maternal anxiety has fairly high proportion in numbers. This problem needs to be addressed to prevent a negative impact on children post anesthesia.