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Objective: to learn about the trait-anxiety (TA) and state-anxiety (SA) of parents during the hospitalization of their children; to asses their involvement in care; to analyze their perception of the help received from healthcare professionals in said care, and to determine the influence of the perceived healthcare support upon carer anxiety.
Method: a descriptive transversal study on 97 fathers/mothers of babies hospitalized in the Paediatric Unit of the Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet (Zaragoza). Data collection was conducted through two questionnaires: the STAI and the one for description of the social support received. A simple linear regression model was conducted between the state-anxiety (dependent variable) and trait-anxiety (independent variable).
Results: sixty-nine (69) persons were studied. 30% of women and 28.5% of men presented baseline anxiety. During the hospitalization of their children, 54% of women and 57.1% of men suffered anxiety. The simple linear regression model was able to explain the 34.1% variability of SA through the TA. 97% of the survey participants received support from the Nursing staff, followed by medical staff with a 63.8%.
Conclusion: the hospitalization of a child is a situation that increases to a high extent the anxiety of relatives, particularly mothers. When the help relationship between the Nursing staff and relatives is perceived as unsatisfactory, the anxiety of parents will increase up to severe levels. Nursing staff, together with the physician, are the two healthcare figures from which families perceive a higher support.
