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Cartoon distraction alleviates anxiety in children during induction of anesthesia
Jeongwoo Lee1, Jihye Lee, Hyungsun Lim
1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonbuk National University.
Insights
Viewing animated cartoons significantly reduced preoperative anxiety in pediatric patients undergoing surgery. This simple intervention offers an effective and inexpensive method for anxiety reduction in young surgical patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Anesthesiology
- Child Psychology
- Surgical Care
Background:
- Preoperative anxiety is a common concern in pediatric surgical patients.
- Effective anxiety reduction strategies are crucial for improving the perioperative experience of children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of viewing animated cartoons versus playing with a favorite toy in reducing preoperative anxiety in children aged 3-7 years.
- To compare these interventions with a control group in the operating room setting before anesthesia induction.
Main Methods:
- 130 children (ASA I/II, aged 3-7) were randomized into three groups: control, toy, and animated cartoon.
- Anxiety was assessed using the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) and parent-reported Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at multiple time points.
- The toy group played with a favorite toy, while the cartoon group watched an animated cartoon until anesthesia induction.
Main Results:
- In the preanesthetic holding room, the toy group showed significantly lower anxiety scores than the control and cartoon groups (mYPAS: P=0.007; VAS: P=0.02).
- In the operating room, the animated cartoon group exhibited the lowest anxiety scores (mYPAS: P<0.001; VAS: P<0.001).
- Significantly more children in the cartoon group (43%) experienced no anxiety in the operating room compared to the toy (23%) and control (7%) groups.
Conclusions:
- Viewing animated cartoons is a highly effective method for alleviating preoperative anxiety in pediatric surgical patients.
- This intervention is inexpensive, easy to implement, and provides comprehensive anxiety reduction for the pediatric surgical population.
Background:
We performed this study to determine the beneficial effects of viewing an animated cartoon and playing with a favorite toy on preoperative anxiety in children aged 3 to 7 years in the operating room before anesthesia induction.
Methods:
One hundred thirty children aged 3 to 7 years with ASA physical status I or II were enrolled. Subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: group 1 (control), group 2 (toy), and group 3 (animated cartoon). The children in group 2 were asked to bring their favorite toy and were allowed to play with it until anesthesia induction. The children in group 3 watched their selected animated cartoon until anesthesia induction. Children's preoperative anxiety was determined by the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) and parent-recorded anxiety Visual Analog Scale (VAS) the night before surgery, in the preanesthetic holding room, and just before anesthesia induction.
Results:
In the preanesthetic holding room, the group 2 mYPAS and parent-recorded anxiety VAS scores were significantly lower than those of groups 1 and 3 (mYPAS: P = 0.007; parent-recorded anxiety VAS: P = 0.02). In the operating room, the children in group 3 had the lowest mYPAS and parent-recorded anxiety VAS scores among the 3 groups (mYPAS: P < 0.001; parent-recorded anxiety VAS: P < 0.001). In group 3, the mYPAS and parent-recorded anxiety VAS scores of only 3 and 5 children were increased in the operating room compared with their scores in the preanesthetic holding room, whereas the anxiety scores of 32 and 34 children in group 1 and 25 and 32 children in group 2 had increased (P < 0.001). The number of children whose scores indicated no anxiety (mYPAS score <30) in the operating room was 3 (7%), 9 (23%), and 18 (43%) in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Allowing the viewing of animated cartoons by pediatric surgical patients is a very effective method to alleviate preoperative anxiety. Our study suggests that this intervention is an inexpensive, easy to administer, and comprehensive method for anxiety reduction in the pediatric surgical population.
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