BACKGROUND: Preoperative anxiety commonly occurs in young children prior to anesthesia induction. This anxiety is associated with poor post-operative outcomes such as increases in emergence delirium occurrence and post-operative pain. Studies have demonstrated varying effectiveness of interventions such as clowns and video games used to engage and distract children from their anxiety. Anesthesiologists at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital have designed a new screen-based modality, called the Bedside Entertainment Theatre (BERT), to distract children from their anxiety. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the anxiety-relieving efficacy of BERT against a hand-held electronic tablet, another screen-based form of entertainment used to alleviate preoperative anxiety in children at the hospital. METHODS: Children aged 4-10 undergoing non-emergent outpatient surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and their primary caregiver were recruited for the study. Measures were taken at 5 timepoints from children, parents, and clinicians: in the preoperative holding area (T1), at entrance to the OR (T2), at induction (T3), after emergence from anesthesia (T4), and at a 1-week follow up (T5). Primary outcomes were preoperative anxiety, assessed by the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) and Child Fear Scale (CFS), and induction compliance, assessed by the Induction Compliance Checklist (ICC). Secondary outcomes were emergence delirium, measured by the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium Scale (PAED) and post-operative pain, measured by the Parents’ Post-operative Pain Measure (PPPM) and a Memory Recall Interview. Child covariates were temperament, measured by the Emotionality Activity Sociability Temperament Survey (EAS-TS) and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire- Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF), and state-trait anxiety, measured by the Child State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAIC). Caregiver covariates were state-trait anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and caregiver pain catastrophizing about their child, measured by the Pain Catastrophizing Scale- Parent State (PCS-P State). This study is currently ongoing and plans to recruit 60 participants. Parent, child, and clinician satisfaction with usage of either intervention was also assessed. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between mean preoperative anxiety scores of BERT and tablet users at all pre-induction timepoints. There was a significant increase in mean preoperative anxiety scores in BERT users from T1 to T2 and T1 to T3. There was also a significant increase in mean preoperative anxiety scores from T1 to T3 for tablet users. There were no other significant differences in primary and secondary outcomes between interventions. Only post-surgery PCS-P State scores for BERT users correlated with mYPAS scores at T3 (p < 0.05). No other measured covariates correlated with preoperative anxiety scores (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although preliminary results do not show differences between the interventions in relieving preoperative anxiety, there may be potential insights gained in how both interventions affect anxiety at different preoperative timepoints. Statistical analysis with the full sample population will be necessary to draw stronger conclusions. / 2018-07-11T00:00:00Z