Evaluation of Preoperative Preparation Using Robot（Pepper）Video in Children Undergoing Surgery under General Anesthesia

Abstract

A previous report revealed that preoperative anxiety in children is correlated with cooperativeness at the time of anesthesia induction, and the psychological preparation may be effective. In this study, a child-oriented video explaining anesthesia was created and integrated into a social humanoid robot made by Softbank Robotics Corp（“Pepper”）.

Patients were divided by age（3-5 and 6-10 years）. Differences in preoperative anxiety （mYPAS-SF： modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale-Short Form）and cooperation（Frankl’s Behavior Rating Scale and VAS： Visual Analogue Scale）between the groups that watched the “Pepper video”（P-group）and the group that watched the traditional parent video（V-group）were prospectively evaluated.

There were no significant intergroup differences in mYPAS-SF and VAS scores. However, among children aged 6-10 years, Frankl Behavior scores were significantly higher in the P-group（p＝0.004）.In children aged 6-10 years, explaining anesthesia to the affected children suggested that they may be more cooperative during anesthesia induction. Additional research is needed on differential responses within pediatric age ranges.