Parental presence in the pediatric intensive care unit reduces postoperative sedative requirements: A retrospective study

Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants, n (%)

Variables	Total (n = 289)	Restricted parental care (n = 167)	Unrestricted parental care (n = 122)	P value
Age (years), median (IQR)	5.6 (2.0-12.8)	7.5 (2.8-13.7)	3.5 (1.3-10.8)	< 0.01
Sex, male	134 (46.4)	69 (41.3)	65 (53.3)	0.04
Weight (kg), median (IQR)	17.4 (11-32.4)	19.6 (12-39)	15 (9.5-28.8)	< 0.01
Comorbidities, yes	37 (12.8)	26 (15.)	11 (9.0)	0.10
Presence of cerebral palsy, yes	13 (4.5)	11 (6.7)	2 (1.6)	0.05
Type of surgery
Orthopedic	134 (46.4)	90 (53.9)	44 (36.1)	< 0.01
Abdominal	91 (31.5)	47 (28.1)	44 (36.1)	-
Other	64 (22.1)	30 (18.0)	34 (27.8)	-
LOS in ICU (days), median (IQR)	2 (2-3)	2 (2-3)	2 (2-4)	0.04
Hospital LOS, mean ± SD	16.0 ± 6.5	14.6 ± 6.0	18.2 ± 6.5	< 0.001
RASS, mean ± SD	1.1 ± 0.3	1.2 ± 0.5	1.0 ± 0.2	< 0.01
Received diazepam	56 (19.4)	45 (27.0)	11 (9.0)	< 0.001
Diazepam dose (mg/kg), median (IQR)	0.1 (0.1-0.1)	0.1 (0.1-0.1)	0.1 (0.1-0.1)	0.74
Received dexmedetomidine	3 (1.0)	1 (0.6)	2 (1.6)	0.58
Dexmedetomidine dose (mg/kg), median (IQR)	0.7 (0.7-0.7)	0.7 (0.7-0.7)	0.7 (0.7-0.7)	1.00
Received trimeperidine	209 (72.3)	133 (79.6)	76 (62.3)	< 0.01
Trimeperidine dose (mg/kg), median (IQR)	0.2 (0.15-0.25)	0.2 (0.2-0.25)	0.2 (0.15-0.25)	1.00
Received morphine	86 (29.8)	35 (21.0)	51 (41.8)	< 0.001
Morphine dose (mg/kg), median (IQR)	0.1 (0.1-0.1)	0.1 (0.1-0.1)	0.1 (0.1-0.1)	0.81

IQR: Interquartile range; LOS: Length of stay; ICU: Intensive care unit.

Table 2 Demographic and clinical characteristics by prescriptions for sedation therapy, n (%)

Variables	Diazepam		Trimeperidine		Morphine
	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Age (years), median (IQR)	1.9 (1.0-3.1)	7.5 (3.0-13.6)c	9.2 (4.5-14.0)	1.0 (0.7-1.6)c	1.1 (0.7-1.8)	9.3 (4.7-14.0)c
Sex, male	31 (55.4)	103 (44.2)	90 (43.1)	44 (55.0)	46 (53.5)	88 (43.4)
Weight (kg), median (IQR)	11.2 ± 5.2	26.7 ± 17.5c	29.2 ± 16.7	9.6 ± 6.1c	10.1 ± 9.2	29.6 ± 16.8c
Comorbidities, yes	13 (23.2)	24 (10.3)a	29 (13.9)	8 (10.0)	8 (9.3)	29 (14.3)
Presence of cerebral palsy, yes	6 (10.7)	7 (3.0%)a	12 (5.7)	1 (1.3)	1 (1.2)	12 (5.9)
Type of surgery
Orthopedic	14 (25.0)	120 (51.5)b	126 (60.3)	8 (10.0)c	12 (14.0)	122 (60.1)c
Abdominal	26 (46.4)	65 (27.9)	54 (25.8)	37 (46.3)	39 (45.3)	52 (25.6)
Other	16 (28.6)	48 (20.6)	29 (13.9)	35 (43.7)	35 (40.7)	29 (14.3)
LOS in ICU (days), median (IQR)	3 (2-4.5)	2 (2-3)c	2 (2-3)	3 (2-4)c	3 (2-4)	2 (2-3)c
Hospital LOS, mean ± SD	16.3 ± 6.9	15.9 ± 6.4	15.4 ± 6.3	17.4 ± 6.7a	17.4 ± 6.6	15.4 ± 6.3a
RASS, mean ± SD	1.3 ± 0.4	1.0 ± 0.1c	1.1 ± 0.4	1.1 ± 0.3	1.1 ± 0.3	1.1 ± 0.4

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

^cP < 0.001.

IQR: Interquartile range; LOS: Length of stay; ICU: Intensive care unit; RASS: Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale.

Table 3 Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models investigating associations of parental care with prescriptions for sedation therapy among pediatric intensive care units patients

Variables	Diazepam		Trimeperidine		Morphine
	Unadj. OR (95%CI)	Adj. OR (95%CI)	Unadj. OR (95%CI)	Adj. OR (95%CI)	Unadj. OR (95%CI)	Adj. OR (95%CI)
Parental care	0.28 (0.14-0.56)c	0.11 (0.05-0.25)c	0.43 (0.25-0.72)b	0.73 (0.33-1.61)	2.69 (1.61-4.50)c	1.84 (0.88-3.84)
Age	0.75 (0.68-0.83)c	0.66 (0.56-0.77)c	2.57 (1.94-3.40)c	2.22 (1.69-2.92)c	0.47 (0.38-0.59)c	0.52 (0.41-0.64)c
Sex, female	0.64 (0.36-1.15)	0.86 (0.40-1.83)	1.61 (0.96-2.70)	0.93 (0.41-2.13)	0.67 (0.40-1.10)	1.12 (0.52-2.41)
Cerebral palsy	3.89 (1.30-11.6)a	21.0 (3.4-129.1)b	3.35 (0.60-18.6)	1.77 (0.02-147.2)	0.27 (0.05-1.49)	0.42 (0.01-13.9)

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01.

^cP < 0.001.

Unadj: Unadjusted; Adj: Adjusted; OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval.