Effect of Distraction Intervention for Needle-Related Pain and Distress in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
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Published on: November 29, 2017
Mi-Kyoung Cho1, Mi-Young Choi1
1Department of Nursing Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea.
Insights
Distraction interventions effectively reduce needle-related pain and distress in children. This systematic review provides evidence for developing better nursing strategies to manage procedural pain in pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nursing
- Pain Management
- Evidence-Based Practice
Background:
- Needle-related procedures are a common source of pain and distress for children.
- Effective nursing interventions are needed to manage pediatric procedural pain.
- Distraction techniques show promise in alleviating needle-related pain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of distraction interventions for needle-related pain in children.
- To provide a basis for developing effective nursing interventions for pediatric pain management.
- To identify strategies for improving outcomes in children experiencing needle-related pain.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published between January 2011 and December 2019.
- Searched PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL databases, supplemented by manual reference searches.
- Utilized MIX 2.0 Pro for synthesis of effect size, homogeneity, heterogeneity, and trim-and-fill analysis.
Main Results:
- Distraction interventions were found to be effective in managing needle-related pain and distress in children.
- Well-designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and high-quality studies demonstrated significant effects.
- Visual and clown-based distraction interventions were particularly effective for participants over 10 years of age.
Conclusions:
- Evidence supports the efficacy of distraction interventions for reducing children's needle-related pain and distress.
- Identified strategies can inform the design of improved nursing interventions for pediatric procedural pain.
- Further research can optimize distraction techniques for better patient outcomes.
Abstract:
A systematic review and meta-analysis conducted to evaluate the combined effect of distraction intervention for needle-related pain in order to provide the basis for developing an effective nursing intervention for children. We searched three electronic databases, PubMed, Embase, and CINAHL, for original articles published in the period from 1 January 2011 to 31 July 2019. In addition, a manual search was performed on the basis of references in the literature and the references of the articles in pursuit of comprehensive data until 10 December 2019. Meta-analysis was performed by the synthesis of the effect size, homogeneity, heterogeneity, and trim-and-fill method using MIX 2.0 Pro. Well-planned RCTs, single-center studies, high-quality studies, participants older than 10 years of age, and visual and clown distraction interventions were effective for needle-related pain and distress management among children. The results showed evidence supporting the effect of distraction interventions for children's needle-related pain and distress. Through this review, strategies were identified to design better interventions to improve the outcomes.

