Table 1.
Patient and surgical characteristics
| VREc (n = 94) | CAU (n = 97) | Pd | VREe (n = 73) | P f | |
| Age | 8.3 [5.7 to 10.2] | 7.5 [5.6 to 10.7] | 0.938a | 9.0 [6.4 to 10.7] | 0.064a |
| Sex | 0.172b | 0.149b | |||
| Male | 45 (47.9) | 56 (57.7) | 34 (46.6) | ||
| Female | 49 (52.1) | 41 (42.3) | 39 (53.4) | ||
| ASA physical status | 0.141b | 0.073b | |||
| I | 72 (76.6) | 65 (67.0) | 58 (79.5) | ||
| II | 22 (23.4) | 32 (33.0) | 15 (20.5) | ||
| Type of surgery | 0.915b | 0.477b | |||
| Adenoidectomy and/or tonsillectomy | 20 (21.3) | 23 (23.7) | 12 (16.4) | ||
| Tympanostomy tubes | 23 (24.5) | 23 (23.7) | 17 (23.3) | ||
| Maxillofacial and dental procedures | 23 (24.5) | 26 (26.8) | 18 (24.7) | ||
| Other ENT procedures | 28 (29.8) | 25 (25.8) | 26 (35.6) | ||
| Induction method | 0.499b | 0.674b | |||
| Inhalation | 54 (57.4) | 51 (52.6) | 36 (49.3) | ||
| Intravenously | 40 (42.6) | 46 (47.4) | 37 (50.7) | ||
| Total problem behaviour (CBCL) | 47.0 [41.0 to 56.0] | 46.0 [39.0 to 53.0] | 0.251a | 47.0 [41.0 to 55.0] | 0.268a |
| Parental education level | 0.442b | 0.728b | |||
| Low | 5 (5.3) | 2 (2.1) | 3 (4.1) | ||
| Medium | 30 (31.9) | 35 (36.1) | 25 (34.2) | ||
| High | 59 (62.8) | 60 (61.9) | 45 (61.6) | ||
Values are median [interquartile range] or frequency (percentage).
ASA, American Society of Anaesthesiologists; CAU, care as usual; CBCL, Child Behaviour Checklist; VRE, virtual reality exposure.
aMann–Whitney U-test.
bχ2 test.
cChildren who were allocated to the VRE condition (n = 94).
dIntention-to-treat analyses.
eChildren who completed the VRE intervention.
fPer-protocol analyses (ad-hoc).