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Unstructured play for anxiety in pediatric inpatient care

Nabeel Al-Yateem1,2,3, Rachel C Rossiter3

  • 1Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing : JSPN
|December 15, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Unstructured play activities significantly reduced anxiety in hospitalized children. This simple, low-cost intervention, implemented by nurses, offers a clinically effective approach to managing pediatric anxiety in inpatient settings.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nursing
  • Child Psychology
  • Healthcare Interventions

Background:

  • Hospitalization can induce significant anxiety in children.
  • Effective, low-cost interventions are needed to manage pediatric anxiety in acute care settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of unstructured play activities on anxiety levels in hospitalized children aged 4-7 years.
  • To determine if play-based interventions can provide a clinically significant reduction in pediatric anxiety.

Main Methods:

  • A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used with 165 children in the UAE.
  • The experimental group (n=81) received 30-minute unstructured play sessions twice daily, while the control group (n=84) received usual care.
  • Anxiety was measured using the Short-State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children on days 1, 2, and 3.

Main Results:

  • Anxiety scores decreased significantly in both groups over 3 days.
  • The intervention group showed significantly lower anxiety scores on days 2 and 3 compared to the control group (p=.003 and p<.001, respectively).
  • Medium-level anxiety scores reduced from 75% at baseline to 0% by day 3 in the intervention group.

Conclusions:

  • Simple, low-cost unstructured play interventions effectively decrease anxiety in hospitalized children.
  • Nurse-implemented play activities provide a statistically and clinically significant reduction in pediatric inpatient anxiety.
  • This intervention demonstrates a feasible and beneficial approach for pediatric care settings.
Abstract

Keywords:
acute carechildrenexperimentalhospitalpediatricplayquantitative

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