The Effect of Self- care Education on the Control of Post Tonsillectomy Complications in 6 -12 years Old Children

Abstract Background & Aim: Self- care, as an important pediatric nursing concept, enables parents and children for management of post-tonsillectomy complications. This study was aimed to determine the effect of self-care education on the control of post tonsillectomy complications in school-age children after discharge of Hamadan’s hospitals. Material & Methods: In this clinical trial, 68 six to twelve year old children admitted to tw Hamadan’s hospitals for tonsillectomy were selected with one parent by convenience sampling and then were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (each 34 paired). For experimental group, individual training was carried out the night before surgery and telephone follow-up performed in the first three days after discharge. Data collecting tools included a demographic questionnaire, two checklists for pain (Numerical Rating Scale and Wong- Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale) and home events recording sheet. Data was analyzed by ANOVA with repeated measures , post-hoc tests , independent t- test and Chi-square test using SPSS-PC (v.16). Results: Significant differences were observed in the mean scores of pain intensity (p