Enhancing the Informed Consent Process in Pediatric Surgery Through an Educational Smartphone Application:...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Surgery
• Medical Decision-Making
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Informed consent (IC) is crucial but often inadequate in pediatric surgery.
• Challenges include limited consultation time, parental anxiety, and misinformation.
• The ChPedBo app was developed to address these issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the ChPedBo smartphone application.
• To assess improvements in parental understanding of their child's condition and surgical procedure.
• To measure the impact on preoperative anxiety levels in parents.

Main Methods:

• Prospective observational study involving 100 parents of children undergoing elective surgery.
• Parents completed a 9-item questionnaire assessing knowledge, anxiety, usefulness, and satisfaction before and after using the ChPedBo app.
• Statistical analysis utilized the Wilcoxon signed-rank test (p < 0.05).

Main Results:

• Significant improvement in parental knowledge of their child's condition (p = 3.88 × 10⁻⁶) and surgical procedure comprehension (p = 1.71 × 10⁻⁶).
• Reduction in preoperative anxiety levels (p = 0.0073).
• High ratings for app usefulness (mean score 2.64) and satisfaction (mean score 2.70).

Conclusions:

• The ChPedBo app effectively enhances parental understanding and reduces anxiety in pediatric surgery informed consent.
• The app shows potential as a valuable digital tool for improving the informed consent process.
• Future research should investigate its use in emergency settings and long-term effects.