Pediatric Health Empowerment: Improving Children's Perioperative Experiences with Patient-Reported Measures

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to improve the perioperative experiences of children aged 4 to 12 undergoing surgery and general anesthesia. It focuses on translating and validating the Pediatric Scale for Quality of Recovery (PedSQoR) into Danish and developing a new patient-reported experience measure (PREM) specifically designed for children's perspectives. The study highlights the importance of including children's own voices to reduce anxiety and improve outcomes in pediatric anesthesia and surgery. The study includes two parts: first, adapting and validating the PedSQoR through a prospective cohort study with about 150 Danish children undergoing various surgeries. Second, developing a PREM instrument using the Warwick Patient Experiences Framework, involving expert child panels, focus groups, and pilot testing with 20 children to ensure the questionnaire captures key experience dimensions. Both studies are conducted at the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at Gødstrup Hospital. Participants will complete surveys and questionnaires assessing their recovery and experiences from enrollment until four weeks after surgery. Data collection involves medical records, mailed surveys, and interviews. Researchers will analyze the reliability and validity of the tools and use thematic analysis for qualitative data. Safety and comfort of child participants are prioritized, with consent obtained from both parents and children. The total participation time ranges from enrollment through four weeks post-surgery.

Pediatric Anesthesia: The Childs Voice