Use of the Hamilton anxiety scale to assess mothers of pediatric patients on mechanical ventilation

Abstract

Introduction: The risk of complications is higher in intensive care units (ICU) than in other units. As children with severe conditions are hospitalized, many drugs are used concomitantly, and invasive interventions are more frequently required. Therefore, pediatric ICUs are medical settings which cause traumatic stress to both children and their parents. Knowing the extent to which anxiety levels are affected in a parent whose child is hospitalized in the intensive care unit is important. This study investigated the anxiety levels of mothers with a child in the ICU and compared the levels of anxiety of mothers of children on mechanical ventilation (MV) with mothers of children not on MV.

Methodology: Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) forms were filled during faceto- face interviews with the mothers after their children’s admission to the ICU. The mothers details were recorded in case report forms. Basic demographic data were collected for the children involved.

Results: In total, 128 patients were enrolled; 64 each on MV (patient group) and not on MV (control group) and their mothers. There was no significant difference in the mean ages of the patient and the control groups (73.9 ± 38.4 months vs. 75.7 ± 48.6 months; p = 0.815). The mean HAM-A scores of the patient group and the control group were found to be 23.7 ± 2.2 and 7.9 ± 1.8, respectively (p = 0.001). The age of the mothers was not correlated with the HAM-A score in either the patient or control group. No difference was found between the HAM-A scores in terms of educational level in the patient and control groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The anxiety levels of the mothers whose children were admitted to the intensive care unit were high and these levels further increased with the possibility of their children being connected to mechanical ventilators.