Effects of Supportive Educational Program on Anxiety of Mothers of Children Undergoing the Lumbar Puncture (LP)

Abstract

<strong>Background:</strong> <em>Lumbar Puncture test is one of the most stressful diagnostic procedures in </em>pediatric ward that its prescription put mothers under extreme pressure. There are limited interventions in this regard. <br/><strong>Aim: </strong>determining the impact of supportive educational program on the anxiety of mothers whose children are undergoing <em>lumbar puncture (LP)</em>. <br/><strong>Method: </strong>the present study is a randomized controlled clinical trial carried out in 2015. Sixty mothers of children undergoing lumbar puncture and hospitalized 3educational hospitals of Mashhad, Iran, were randomly divided to control group (n=30) and intervention group (n=30). The intervention group received supportive program during a session of 60 min. <em>Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory</em> (<em>STAI</em>) was selected as the research tool. Finally, data were analyzed by <em>Chi</em><em>-</em><em>square test, independent t-test using SPSS v.16 software.</em> <br/><strong>Results:</strong> <em>The mean age of the mothers was 27.3</em>±5.3<em> and 26.0</em>±3.1, respectively. The mean pre-interventions maternal manifest anxiety was <em>51.9</em>±6.2<em> and 53.4</em>±4.3 out of 80, respectively,<em> in the intervention and control groups. </em>The mean post-interventions maternal manifest anxiety was 44.9±5.1<em> and 52.7</em>±4.2, respectively, in the intervention and control groups. According to the results of independent t-test, significant difference was observed statistically for the mean maternal manifest anxiety between the two groups (p> 0.001). <br/><strong>Implications for Practice:</strong> Regarding the reduction of maternal anxiety in the intervention group, which is possible because of the attention to the emotional needs of mothers, in addition to proper training; this program can be considered as an effective method to reduce maternal anxiety before the LP test.