NCT06858267

The Impact of Meditation on Anxiety and Post-Operative Pain in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Urological Surgery

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Augusta University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Years – 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

1. The aim of this study is to assess anxiety in pediatric patients preoperatively, perioperatively, and postoperatively and whether meditation reduces anxiety in the days before, during, and after the surgery. 2. The second aim of this study is to see if longitudinal meditation is associated with decreased postoperative pain by examining whether the group prescribed meditation has reduced pain medication intake, measured by the frequency of liquid analgesic medicine intake.

Detailed description

Up to 70% of pediatric patients experience preoperative and perioperative anxiety. The anxiety level of their parents or guardians also affects the anxiety levels of pediatric patients themselves. Anxiety levels often peak during the time of anesthesia induction, suggesting the unfamiliar physical environment plays a role in increasing anxiety levels. Pediatric anxiety often manifests in various ways such as strong emotions, physical noncompliance, and regression. Pre-operative anxiety has been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular events during the operation, increase difficulty gaining access to intubation, and increase anesthetic requirements. The effects of pre-operative anxiety do not end once the operation is complete. Rather, there have been suggestions that preoperative anxiety has a positive association with postoperative pain and prolonged hospital stay. Thirteen percent of pediatric surgical patients have postoperative pain that interferes with their daily activities or sleep patterns. In addition, 25-63% of pediatric patients who undergo urological surgeries experience moderate to severe pain on postoperative day 1 and the pain decreases but persists for 2 days on average. Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore noninvasive and adaptable methods to decrease preoperative anxiety among the patient and their guardians'. Mindfulness is turning one's awareness of past and future events inward to focus on the present time. The practice provides an opportunity for people to reflect on their current internal conditions in a space and time that is not pressured, which can improve their ability to healthily and effectively respond to those conditions. One such study proposed that trait mindfulness and perceived anxiety have an inverse relationship. While another showed those with higher levels of trait mindfulness have increased resistance to stress and psychological flexibility. By embracing the entire spectrum of emotions one may encounter in the present or about a future event, people may be able to feel relief instead of increased anxiety or worry.

Conditions

• Pediatric Kidney Disease

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	PeSSKi questionnaire survey	The control group will only receive the questionnaire without meditation. The PeSSKi questionnaire survey will be receive in 4 time point, First questionnaire will sent via email after the appointment for the surgery is scheduled. The second PeSSKi questionnaire survey will share via email at halfway point to the surgery. The third questionnaire survey will be done immediately before the day of surgery in person to assess how anxious the patient is. The final questionnaire survey will be done 1 week postoperatively to assess how much pain the patient is still in after the quantity of analgesic usage logged throughout the week.
BEHAVIORAL	Meditation Video	The experimental group pediatric patients selected for this study and their parents will be receiving meditation and PeSSKi (Perceived Stress Scale for Kids) questionnaire. The ideal meditation schedule will be 3-5 meditations per week for 5 minutes beginning 3 weeks before surgery. This will provide a dose-response relationship of meditation to anxiety and postoperative pain for data analysis. The Patient and their parents will open the link, enter their assigned number, and follow the guided meditation embedded in the Qualtrics. This will track how many times and for how long the patients are following the regimen. The questionnaire has eleven questions on a five-point scale ranging from "Not at all" to "A lot". An example of the meditation video questionnaire is linked here: https://augusta.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV\_3DeFFKdJVupMJQq (experimental group) https://augusta.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV\_2b2DZ9x16jY9IzQ (PeSSKi questionnaire)

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-03-01
• Primary completion: 2027-12-30
• Completion: 2028-12-30
• First posted: 2025-03-05
• Last updated: 2025-03-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States