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Predictive Factors for Anxiety during Blood Sampling and Insertion of Peripheral Intravenous Catheters in Paediatric
M Ferraz-Torres1, P Escalada-Hernandez2, L San Martín-Rodriguez3
1Clinical Records at Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra (CHN), Spain.
Insights
Pediatric patients experience significant anxiety during painful medical procedures like venipuncture. Factors such as older age, female gender, and parental behavior influence this anxiety, necessitating targeted interventions.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare research
- Clinical psychology in medicine
- Patient experience and pain management
Background:
- Invasive diagnostic procedures (venipuncture, IV catheterization) induce significant pain and stress in pediatric patients.
- Understanding the factors contributing to anxiety during these procedures is crucial for improving patient care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors influencing anxiety levels in children undergoing venipuncture and peripheral venous catheter insertion.
- To provide data for developing strategies to mitigate pediatric procedural anxiety.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study involving 359 children aged 2-15 years in a Spanish tertiary hospital.
- Utilized Wong-Baker and FLACC scales for pain assessment and PACBIS scale for stress/anxiety.
- Regressive analysis was employed to determine the impact of various recorded variables.
Main Results:
- The mean age of participants was 7.93 years; pain scores averaged 4.43.
- Minimum anxiety was associated with 45.7% of venipunctures and 11.1% of IV catheterizations.
- Key anxiety-influencing variables identified: patient age, sex, pain level, parental conduct, and procedure duration.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric procedural anxiety is multifactorial, with older age (>6 years), female gender, longer procedure times, and parental interference significantly increasing stress.
- Healthcare professionals should implement strategies like reducing procedure duration, educating parents, and employing distraction techniques to alleviate pediatric anxiety.
Introduction:
Invasive procedures for diagnosis purposes such as venepuncture and peripheral venous catheter insertion are painful procedures that cause great stress for paediatric patients. The objective of this study is to find out the factors that have an impact on the level of anxiety experienced by children undertaken these procedures.
Design And Methods:
Prospective study, 359 children between 2 and 15 years old were included, treated in a tertiary reference hospital in the region of Navarra (Spain). The impact of the variables recorded was analysed using a regressive analysis, the Wong-Baker and FLACC scales were used to measure the level of pain and the PACBIS scale to measure the level of stress and anxiety.
Results:
The average age of the participants was 7.93 years (SD: 4.04), with 51.8% (n = 186) boys and 48.2% (n = 173) girls. The mean value of pain recorded was 4.43 (SD:3.10). 45.7% (n = 123) of the venepuncture techniques was associated with minimum level of anxiety, including 11.1% of intravenous catheterization. Variables determining the anxiety has been detected such as age, sex, level of pain, parental conduct and time spent on the procedure.
Conclusions:
Paediatric patients experience high levels of anxiety when undergoing painful procedures which are conditioned by multifactorial reasons. The increase in stress is directly related to the older age (>6 years old) of the patient, and statistically significant by the female gender, the longer duration of the technique and the parental block.
Practice Implications:
Healthcare professionals should work on some of the variables and apply measures aimed to mitigate anxiety levels. For example, reducing the duration of the procedure, training parents, and distracting techniques.
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