[Evaluation of the scales used to measure anxiety and child behaviour during the induction of anaesthesia. Literature review]

Abstract

The assessment of children's anxiety during anaesthetic induction is useful to determine if pre-operative strategies have been effective in reducing anxiety. The aim of this study is to review the different tools used to evaluate child anxiety or behaviour during the induction of anaesthesia. The electronic databases with no date limits were reviewed in December 2013, with a second review repeated in September 2014. A data extraction template was applied to find the scales used in the articles. Eight observational scales were found. Six of them can only be used during induction of anaesthesia, and two of those could be applied at various perioperative times, before surgery and during induction of anaesthesia.

Keywords: Anaesthesia; Anestesia; Ansiedad; Anxiety; Atención hospitalaria; Child behaviour; Conducta infantil; Evaluación de resultado; Hospital care; Outcome assessment; Periodo preoperatorio; Preoperative period.