Using the parents' video camera for the follow-up of children who have undergone hypospadias surgery decreases hospital anxiety of children.

Purpose: We investigated the benefits of using the parents' video camera records for the follow-up of children who had undergone hypospadias surgery in terms of reducing fear and hospital anxiety of the children and the time spent in the waiting room.

Methods: This prospective study was performed on children with proximal hypospadias. The patients were called for the follow-up appointment on the 7th postoperative day and were divided into 3 groups. The first group was the control group where parents were not given any follow-up visit direction. The parents of the second group were told to have their child drink enough fluids and come with a full bladder, while the third group of parents recorded their child's micturition using a video camera. The fear and anxiety of children at the postoperative visit were evaluated and recorded using a scoring system between 0 and 4 using the Children's Fear Scale (CFS) brochure. The time elapsed from the arrival of the parents in the outpatient clinic to their departure was also recorded for comparison of the total time spent during the follow-up visit among the groups.

Results: Thirty boys who underwent hypospadias repair were enrolled in this study. The median CFS scores at the postoperative follow-up visit were 2.99±0.99 (range: 1-4) in the first group, 2.90±0.87 (range: 1-4) in the second group, and 0.00 (range 0-0) in the third group. The median total time spent during the follow-up visit in the 3 groups was 61.50±17.08 (range 35-88), 18.1±13.01 (range 4-45), and 4.0±0.81 (3-5) minutes, respectively. Both CFS and total time spent were significantly lower in the third group (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Imaging of micturition at home by using a video camera for outpatient visits following hypospadias surgery will decrease the fear and anxiety of children and the time that the family spends at the hospital.