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The Effect of External Thermomechanical Stimulation and Distraction on Reducing Pain Experienced by Children During
1From the Faculty of Health Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul.
Insights
External thermomechanical stimulation (Buzzy) and distraction (DistrACTION Cards) significantly reduced children's pain during blood draws. Combining both methods provided the greatest pain relief, outperforming either intervention alone.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pain Management
- Medical Procedure Interventions
- Psychosocial Interventions in Healthcare
Background:
- Blood drawing is a common and often painful procedure for children.
- Effective pain management strategies are crucial to reduce procedural distress.
- External thermomechanical stimulation and distraction are potential non-pharmacological interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of external thermomechanical stimulation (Buzzy) and distraction (DistrACTION Cards) for pain relief in children during blood draws.
- To compare the sole and combined effects of these interventions against a control group.
Main Methods:
- Randomized clinical trial involving 218 children aged 6-12 years.
- Four groups: control, Buzzy only, DistrACTION Cards only, and combined Buzzy and DistrACTION Cards.
- Pain assessed using the Faces Pain Scale-Revised; anxiety assessed using the Children's Anxiety and Pain Scale.
Main Results:
- Preprocedural anxiety levels were not significantly different across groups.
- All intervention groups showed significantly lower pain levels compared to the control group (P < 0.001).
- The combined Buzzy and DistrACTION Cards group reported the lowest pain scores, followed by the Buzzy group, then the DistrACTION Cards group.
Conclusions:
- Both external thermomechanical stimulation and distraction are effective in reducing pain during blood draws in children.
- The combination of Buzzy and DistrACTION Cards offers superior pain relief compared to individual interventions or no intervention.
- These non-pharmacological methods are valuable tools for pediatric pain management during venipuncture.
Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate the sole and combined effects of external thermomechanical stimulation and distraction in pain relief of children during blood drawing.This is a randomized clinical trial. The sample consisted of 218 children aged 6 to 12 years who were randomly assigned to 4 groups: group 1 received no intervention, group 2 received external thermomechanical stimulation using Buzzy, group 3 received distraction via DistrACTION Cards, and group 4 received a combination of both external thermomechanical stimulation and distraction. Preprocedural anxiety was assessed through observers' observations using the Children's Anxiety and Pain Scale. Children's pain levels were assessed by themselves, observers, and parents, as reported using the Faces Pain Scale-Revised. Preprocedural anxiety did not differ significantly (P > 0.05). When the 3 study groups were compared with the control group, all 3 groups had significantly lower pain levels than the control group (P < 0.001). The lowest pain level was measured in the combined condition (Buzzy and DistrACTION Cards). The mean score of the device group was lower than the distraction group.
