Pediatric and Maternal Anxiety at First Visit to a Turkish Gastroenterology Clinic Compared to Anxiety Prior to Pediatric Endoscopy Procedure

Abstract

Pediatric gastroenterology as a separate subspecialty began to emerge in the 1960s in Europe, and children are usually referred to an outpatient pediatric gastroenterology clinic by their family pediatricians when necessary. Pediatric gastroenterology deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the digestive tract and/or liver of children from newborn until 18 years of age. Gastrointestinal problems in children are quite different from those of adults not only in presentation but also in types of diseases. These subspecialists almost routinely see patients who are referred by their own pediatricians or family physicians.admission to a subspecialist may provoke some sort of anxiety for both children and their parents. There are no data on the assessment of anxiety at pediatric gastroenterology admission. However, it was clearly shown in the literature that endoscopy in the pediatric population causes significant anxiety in both children and parents. a comparison of the anxiety of children and parents at first visit to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic with anxiety before endoscopic investigations would be interesting. Consequently, the ones with higher anxiety may require additional preparation by the stuff including both the physician and the nurse to overcome anxiety. On the other hand, pediatric endoscopy has become an almost routine invasive procedure for pediatric gastroenterologists (Gilger, 2001). Currently, endoscopic investigations constitute a major workload for these physicians (Friedt & Welsch, 2013).

Effect of Psychological Preparation on Coping Strategies of children Undergoing Endoscopy

“…Children are often difficult and uncooperative patients, their comfort during the procedure is the key for an effective and satisfactory diagnostic or therapeutic endoscopic investigation (Gimiga, Bors, ŞTEFĂNESCU, Iorga, & Diaconescu, 2016). Pediatric endoscopy has become an almost routine invasive procedure for pediatric gastroenterologists (Cam, 2021). Pediatric procedural anxiety and behavioral distress is a common occurrence across medical procedures and can have long standing negative psychological effects.…”

Effect of Calming Techniques on Health Parameters of Children Undergoing Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and their Mothers' Satisfaction

“…Appropriate child preparation prior to endoscopy improves the children's knowledge of the procedures, improves the child's physiological parameters, and alleviates anxiety and fear in both the child and the parents (Cam & Sebahat, 2021).…”