Is Preoperative Anxiety Affected by Watching Short Videos on Social Media? A Prospective Randomized Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of watching short videos in the preoperative waiting room on preoperative anxiety in children.

This study was designed as a prospective, randomized trial including 69 ASA I-II patients aged 5 to 12 years who were scheduled for elective surgery.

The children were randomly allocated to two groups. The experimental group browsed short videos on a social media platform (eg, YouTube short, TikTok, Instagram reels) for 20 minutes in the preoperative waiting room, but the control group did not. Children's preoperative anxiety was determined by the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) at different time points: on arrival in the preoperative waiting room (T1), right before being taken to the operating room (OR) (T2), on entering the OR (T3), and during anesthesia induction (T4). The primary outcome of the study was children's anxiety scores at T2.

The mYPAS scores at T1 were similar in both groups (P = .571). The mYPAS scores at T2, T3, and T4 were significantly lower in the video group than in the control group (P < .001).

Watching short videos on social media platforms in the preoperative waiting room lowered preoperative anxiety levels in pediatric patients aged 5 to 12.