[Concerns about child´s surgery. Are there differences if you belong to health sector?]

INTRODUCTION

A surgical intervention is a stress situation for every human being. Parents of children who undergo scheduled surgeries have some degree of anxiety about them.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the main paternal concerns regarding surgery. Assess the influence of working in health (nurses, auxiliary staff and doctors) to underestimate, magnify or mislead the real concerns.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted between two populations divided by their relationship with the hospital setting that completed a questionnaire with 35 items. 138 questionnaires were collected and analyzed.

RESULTS

Differences are observed regarding the perception we have, as hospital staff, of the levels, relationships and types of concerns that we believe parents present before their child's surgery regarding the true perceptions that these parents present.

CONCLUSION

The present study shows that, although the hospital staff has experience in the management of pediatric patients and their family environment, the habituation to the hospital environment can generate small distortions in terms of the levels and groupings of the different concerns present before the hospital surgery of a child, having to take it into account to offer the best care work.

[Validation and reliability study of the parent concerns about surgery questionnaire: What worries parents?]

INTRODUCTION

The study of mediating variables and psychological responses to child surgery involves the evaluation of both the patient and the parents as regards different stressors.

OBJECTIVE

To have a reliable and reproducible valid evaluation tool that assesses the level of paternal involvement in relation to different stressors in the setting of surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

A self-report questionnaire study was completed by 123 subjects of both sexes, subdivided into 2populations, due to their relationship with the hospital setting. The items were determined by a group of experts and analysed using the Lawshe validity index to determine a first validity of content. Subsequently, the reliability of the tool was determined by an item-re-item analysis of the 2sub-populations. A factorial analysis was performed to analyse the construct validity with the maximum likelihood and rotation of varimax type factors.

RESULTS

A questionnaire of paternal concern was offered, consisting of 21 items with a Cronbach coefficient of 0.97, giving good precision and stability. The posterior factor analysis gives an adequate validity to the questionnaire, with the determination of 10 common stressors that cover 74.08% of the common and non-common variance of the questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

The proposed questionnaire is reliable, valid and easy-to-apply and is developed to assess the level of paternal concern about the surgery of a child and to be able to apply measures and programs through the prior assessment of these elements.

The current status of international partnerships for child surgery in sub-Saharan Africa

Disparity still exists in the surgical care between sub-Saharan Africa and developed countries. Several international initiatives have been undertaken in the past decades to address the disparity. This study looks at the impact of these programs in child surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa. Review of electronic databases Medline and African Index Medicus on international partnerships for child surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa was undertaken. Four types of international initiatives were identified and consist of periodic medical missions; partnerships between foreign medical institutions or charities and local institutions; international health electives by surgical residents; and training of individual surgeons from developing countries in foreign institutions. The results of these efforts were variable, but sustainability and self-reliance of host nations were limited. Sociocultural factors, dearth of facilities, and lack of local governments' commitment were main impediments to effective local development or transfer of modern protocols of surgical management and improvement of pediatric surgical care at the host community level. Current initiatives may need improvements with better understanding of the sociocultural dynamics and local politics of the host nation, and improved host nation involvement and commitment. This may engender development of locally controlled viable services and sustainable high level of care.