Brief report: behavioral correlates of postoperative pain in toddlers and preschoolers

Objective: To investigate the association between preoperatlve parent and child behaviors and postopera-tive pain in toddlers and preschoolers. Method: Participants were 74 pedlatrlc patients (59 boys, IS girls), scheduled for Inguinal hernia or hy-drocele repair, and their parents. Children ranged in age from 12 to 64 months (M = 33.7 months, 5D = 14.7 months). Child and parent behaviors were assessed 30 minutes prior to surgery using the Behavioral Observation Scale (BOS), a modified version of the Dyadic Prestressor Interaction Scale (Melamed fit Bush, 1985). Postoperative pain was assessed using an observational measure, the Toddler-Preschooler Postopera-tive Pain Scale (TPPPS) (Tarbell, Cohen, & Marsh, 1992). Results: Postoperative pain was negatively related to parents ' provision of surgery-relevant information dur-ing the preoperative observation period. Conclusions: Preoperative interventions for young children should include information about the surgery ex-perience. Key words: postoperative pain; presurgical preparation; toddlers; preschoolers. Although postoperative pain is a common outcome for pediatric surgery patients (Alex & Ritchie, 1992