Relationship between the care need levels of patients hospitalized in the pediatric surgery service and the caregiving burden of their parents: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The study was conducted to determine the relationship between the level of care needs of pediatric patients hospitalized in the pediatric surgery service and the caregiving burden of their parents.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on an estimated non-probabilistic sample of 126 children and their parents, who were hospitalized in the pediatric surgery service between May and December 2022. For the children, the inclusion criteria were to be between 0 and 18 years of age, to be hospitalized in the pediatric surgery service of a university hospital and not to present communication difficulties. In order to include parents, they had to meet the criteria of remaining in the hospital after surgery. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using non-parametric tests with SPSS software. The study was approved by the research ethics committee.

Results: The children participating in the study 72.2% (n = 91) were boys. Of the children, 89.7% (n = 113) were hospitalized for 1-10 days, 53.9% (n = 68) were hospitalized due to outpatient surgery and 79.4% (n = 100) were hospitalized for postoperative reasons. The total mean score obtained from the overall Pediatric Surgery Service Patient Classification Scale by children hospitalized in the pediatric surgery service was 28.95 ± 6.25 (level III), and the mean score obtained from the overall Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale by the mothers was 34.04 ± 10.78 (moderate level). There was a significant and positive relationship between the caregiving burden of the mothers and the level of care needs of the children (r = 0.550, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The mean scores obtained from the overall pediatric surgery service were at a moderate level. There was a significant, positive relationship between these 2 scales.