EQUOO: Augmented Reality and Preoperative Anxiety

Project
Equoo: The Effect of Augmented Reality on Preoperative Anxiety in Children and Adolescents: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary
Preoperative anxiety is present in 40 to 60% of pediatric surgery patients. Several methods already exist to decrease this anxiety, notably taking a sedative in the preoperative phase, which is the most common method used. To reduce medication intake, a playful and interactive companion program (ÉQUOO) using augmented reality was developed at the CHU de Québec. This solution aims to reduce surgery anxiety in children, to reassure parents and to encourage resilience in children while reducing mobilization of the nursing staff. The goal of this project is to assess if the use of the ÉQUOO augmented reality reduces the prevalence of preoperatory anxiety in children aged 5 to 17 undergoing one-day elective surgeries at the Centre mère-enfant Soleil (CMES) of the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université Laval (CHUL).