title: Parental presence during lumbar puncture: anxiety and attitude toward the procedure.
abstract: We evaluated the anxiety state of 57 parents whose children required lumbar puncture (LP) as part of a diagnostic workup. We also examined parental attitude about their presence during the procedure. The parents were randomly divided into two groups: 29 (51%) were present during the LP (group A) and 28 (49%) remained outside (group B). There were no differences in the anxiety scores between the two groups. All parents in group A and seven in group B (25%) reported a preference for staying with the child should he/she need LP in the future. The results also showed that allowing the parents to be present during LP does not aggravate their anxiety compared with controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics C, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tiqva.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Haimi-Cohen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amir
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harel
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Straussberg
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Varsano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000523:psychology*