A randomized trial by German researchers examined the potential stress-reducing benefits of parents receiving intraoperative text messages from their child’s OR team during outpatient pediatric surgeries. What they found was less than satisfying for those who might assume that increased intraoperative communication and transparency with pediatric caregivers is unquestionably beneficial.
The trial was published in Pediatric Research, the official publication of the American Pediatric Society, the European Society for Paediatric Research and the Society for Pediatric Research.
It assigned parents of children aged six months to six years who were undergoing minor outpatient surgery to an intervention group that received standardized intraoperative text messages, or a control group without messages. Both groups received a postoperative phone call. Fifty-one families participated, with 71% of the participants mothers.
The researchers then assessed the parents’ stress levels using “salivary cortisol, heart rate, heart rate variability, and subjective ratings at multiple perioperative time points.” They found that cortisol and heart rate variability peaked preoperatively, while heart rate and subjective stress were elevated pre- and intraoperatively regardless of whether they received messages or not.
Fathers, the researchers write, had lower postoperative cortisol, lower heart rate pre- and postoperative and lower subjective stress at pre-treatment consultation compared to mothers, who exhibited lower heart rate variability the evening before surgery.
“Messaging reduced postoperative cortisol and intraoperative subjective stress among fathers but increased subjective stress at surgery onset within mothers and had no significant effect on stress indicators across the full cohort,” they write.
The study concludes, “Intraoperative text messaging reduced stress in fathers but not in mothers or the full cohort. The preoperative period remained the most stressful. Future research should explore gender-specific strategies to improve perioperative parental support.” They add that text messaging “showed minimal benefit and potential adverse effects in mothers, with increased subjective stress at surgery onset.”
Their message to pediatric surgical teams: “Text-based interventions may support fathers’ perioperative coping and postoperative compliance but may be ineffective or counterproductive for mothers, highlighting the need in future research for gender-sensitive stress-reduction strategies.”
Read the full study here.
