Effectiveness of a Mobile App Intervention for Preparing Preschool Children and Parents for Day Surgery: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Day surgery allows families to return home quickly. Only a few approaches to preparing for day surgery have demonstrated how digital solutions can support families and children. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile app intervention on preschool children's fear and pain and parents' anxiety and stress in preparing children for day surgery. Methods: This study was conducted at the Pediatric Day Surgical Department of a university hospital in Finland between 2018 and 2020. Parents of children (aged 2-6 y) who were in a queue for elective day surgery were randomized into the intervention group (IG; n=36) and control group (CG; n=34). The CG received routine preparations, whereas the IG was prepared using a mobile app. Parents' and children's outcomes were measured using validated scales at 4 different points: at home (T1 and T4) and at the hospital (T2 and T3) before and after surgery. Group differences were analyzed using statistical methods suitable for the material. Results: Before surgery, parents in both groups experienced mild anxiety, which decreased after surgery. Parental anxiety did not differ between groups preoperatively (P=.78) or postoperatively (P=.63). Both groups had less anxiety at home after surgery compared with before. The IG showed a significant decrease (P=.003); the CG also improved (P=.002). Preoperatively at home, most parents in both groups experienced no stress or mild stress (P=.61). Preoperatively at the hospital, parents in both groups experienced mild stress; however, parents in the IG experienced more stress during this phase (P=.02). Parents in the IG experienced significantly less stress postoperatively than those in the CG (P=.05). Both groups showed decreased stress levels from before to after surgery (IG: P=.003; CG: P=.004) within each group. There were no significant differences in children's pain levels between the groups and measurement points. This was observed before surgery at home (P=.25), before surgery at the hospital (P=.98), and after surgery at the hospital (P=.72). Children's fear decreased more in the IG (P=.006) than in the CG (P=.44) comparing the phases before and after surgery at home. Fear did not differ between the IG and CG preoperatively at home (P=.20) or at the hospital (P=.59) or postoperatively at the hospital (P=.62) or at home (P=.81). Conclusions: The mobile app intervention did not reduce anxiety or pain. However, it was observed that parents in the IG experienced substantially heightened stress levels before surgery at the hospital, which decreased significantly after surgery at home. In addition, fear levels in children in the IG decreased over time, whereas no significant change was observed in the CG. These results are important for developing health care service chains and providing families with innovative and customer-oriented preparation methods.