SIMDiscovery: The Benefits of Utilizing a Simulation Preparation Program for Spinal Fusion Surgery

Parent and adolescent anxiety will be measured at baseline utilizing the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) (Spielberger et al., 1983). The STAI consists of 40 items total-20 items assessing trait anxiety (general proneness to anxious behavior) and 20 items assessing state anxiety (a current emotional state). All items are scored using a four-point scale (e.g., ranging from "Almost Never" to "Almost Always"). Scores can range from 20 to 80 with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. This measure has been validated for use with individuals ages 15 and above (Julian, 2011). If a patient is 15 years of age or above, they will complete the STAI, rather than the STAIC (see below).

Child anxiety will be assessed utilizing the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) (Spielberger & Edwards, 1973). Similar to the STAI, the STAIC consists of 20 items assessing state anxiety and 20 items assessing trait anxiety. Items are scored using a four-point scale and higher scores indicate greater anxiety. The STAIC has been validated for use with children up to age 15 years (Spielberger & Edwards, 1973).

Parent preparedness will be measured using the Caregiver Preparedness Scale (CPS) (Archbold, et al., 1990). This scale has been validated for use with adult caregivers (Petruzzo et al., 2017; Pucciarelli et al., 2014). The CPS includes eight items assessing caregiver preparedness to care for a patient's physical and emotional needs, setting up services, coping with the stress of caregiving, making caregiving activities pleasant for the caregiver and patient, responding and managing emergencies, obtaining assistance from the health care system, and overall preparedness. Each item is rated from 0 (not at all prepared) to 4 (Very well prepared). Items are summed for a total score that ranges from 0 to 32, with higher scores indicating feeling better prepared for the caregiving role.

In order to examine themes similar to parent preparedness but from the patient's perspective, we will administer a measure similar to the CPS (above) for children and adolescent patients. This measure has not been validated; rather, based on the validity of the CPS used to assess parent preparedness, we modified the measure to assess patients' perception of their ability to care for or advocate for themselves regarding their physical and emotional needs prior to the surgery. (Archbold, et al., 1990). All patients will complete this measure. This measure consists of six questions and similar to the CPS, each item is rated from 0 (not at all prepared) to 4 (Very well prepared). Items are summed for a total score that ranges from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating more feelings of preparedness for the surgery.

Facts that patients learn through the preoperative appointment and the SIMDiscovery program measured by the Spine Fusion Knowledge Assessment developed by our team