Effect of therapeutic play based training program on pre- and post-operative anxiety and fear: A study on circumcision surgery in Turkish Muslim children

Developmentally appropriate pre-surgical educational programs can help alleviate the anxiety of both children and parents. As one of the most common pediatric surgical procedures is circumcision; and they may experience anxiety and fear before and after this surgical procedure, this study is considered to make an important contribution to the literature. This study aimed to examine the effect of therapeutic play based training program on pre- and post-operative anxiety and fear levels of children aged 8–11 years who would undergo circumcision. This was a quasi-experimental study that consisted of a pre- and post-intervention and control groups; and concluded with 60 children aged 8–11 years (intervention group: 30 and no intervention/control group: 30). Child and Parent Information Form, Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI) and Fear for Medical Procedures Scale (FMPS) were used as data collection tools. Children in the intervention group applied a “therapeutic play-based training program” 2 h before they underwent circumcision surgery. Therapeutic toys used in the educational program has designed by researchers. After the training program, children in the intervention group obtained lower CASI (preop t = 6.383, p