title: Desire for perioperative information and parental ethnicity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the role of ethnicity, language, and socioeconomic variables in parental desire for information regarding children's surgery.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare anesthetic and surgical information desired between English- and Spanish-speaking White and Hispanic mothers of children undergoing outpatient surgery.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Parents report wanting to receive detailed information regarding children's preoperative care; however, variables such as parent ethnicity and language spoken have not been accounted for in understanding desire for information.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and eighty-one mothers of children undergoing outpatient surgery, elective surgery, and general anesthesia were recruited and categorized into one of three groups: English-speaking White (ESW, n=79), English-speaking Hispanic (ESH, n = 63), and Spanish-speaking Hispanic (SSH, n = 39). In addition to providing demographic questionnaire, mothers completed the Parental Desire for Information (PDI) questionnaire, a 14-item measure of surgery and anesthesia-related statements.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, mothers desired receiving information about the majority of the items on the PDI. As compared to ESW mothers, SSH mothers and ESH mothers were overrepresented in the 'have a right to know' response option, with significant differences existing in items concerning alternative methods of anesthesia, details of needles used, and location of PACU and OR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anesthesiologists should tailor the provision of preoperative information based on ethnicity and language of mothers involved. Ethnic and language differences shown in this study may exist in other populations as well.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Care, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.forename: Danielle I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Kain
authors.forename: Edwin T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huszti
authors.forename: Aditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wahi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D059035:Perioperative Period / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018401:Sample Size; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People