OBJECTIVETo study the anxiety state of family members of newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and investigate the influencing factors of their anxiety state.

METHODSThe self-designed questionnaire was used to collect the associated family information of 200 newborns who were admitted to the NICU. A self-rating anxiety scale was applied to investigate the anxiety state of the newborns' family members.

RESULTSThe anxiety score of the newborns' family members averaged 44.86+/-7.59, which was significantly higher than that of domestic norm of adult (37.23+/-0.58; P<0.05). The differences of the family members' anxiety score were related to the severity of baby's diseases, their educational level and family's economic condition as well as the locality of the family (countryside or city). The more severe the baby's illness, the higher anxiety score of the family members had. The family members with higher educational levels or poorer economic conditions had higher anxiety scores. The anxiety score of the family members from the countryside was higher than that of the family members from city.

CONCLUSIONSThe family members of NICU newborns have obvious anxiety. The degree of anxiety is associated with the severity of baby's illness, educational level of the family member, family's economic condition and the family locality (countryside or city). These results remind the medical staff working in the NICU should pay more attention to communicating with the family members in a compassionate way and help them to cope with this stressful situation.