How many parents should we let into the operating room?

This study compared anxiety of children with one and two parents present at anesthesia induction.

Baseline measures of parent and child anxiety were obtained; parents were randomly assigned to the two study groups. Validated and reliable tools were used to assess the outcomes of interest.

We found that observed anxiety of children as well as compliance of children with the induction process was not different between the two study groups. Parent's anxiety was also evaluated using two-way ANOVA with repeated measures. A group by time interaction was demonstrated and parents in the one-parent group reported significantly higher anxiety than parents in the two-parents group (M = 48.6, SD = 13.1 vs M = 39.7, SD = 11.5, P < 0.02).

We conclude that while allowing two parents into the operating rooms does not affect observed child anxiety, it does reduce parent self-reported anxiety. As the presence of multiple parents during invasive medical procedures is in congruence with family centered-care we recommend that institutions examine this modality.