Detection and clinical impact of anxiety in Children undergoing general anesthesia compared to the standard of care of a pediatric hospital.

Introduction: The impact of preoperative anxiety causes significantly postoperative pain, delirium, sleep disturbances, and other maladaptive behavioral changes that last for weeks or months after surgery.

Method and results: We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study in 97 children aged 7 to 10 years who underwent elective surgery. The manifest anxiety scale in children (CMA-R) were applied to them, frequencies, percentages and cross-tests were used to find factors associated with anxiety. The results are significantly compared with the literature, presenting anxiety in 52.5% of the patients, where the socioeconomic level influences that this occurs.

Conclusions: The study results demonstrate that the scale is helpful and attractive in detecting preoperative anxiety in children undergoing outpatient surgery compared to the standard care protocol in pediatric hospitals.