TICK-B with Passive Distractions
Description
The primary hypothesis of this prospective, randomized controlled trial was that three non-pharmacological interventions - music listening, cartoon watching, and TICK-B (Trace Image and Coloring for Kids-Book) - would be more effective in reducing pain and fear experienced by children during and after a cannulation procedure, compared to a control group. The study included 167 children who were randomly assigned to one of the four parallel study groups: control group (n = 40), music listening group (n = 41), cartoon watching group (n = 42), and TICK-B group (n = 44). The researchers collected data on the participants' baseline characteristics, including gender, age, hospitalization days, number of cannulation attempts, previous pain, and previous cannulation fear. The study groups were well-balanced, with no statistically significant differences in these baseline measures, strengthening the validity of the observed outcomes. Pain was assessed using the Wong-Baker Faces (Wb-Faces) Pain Rating Scale, and fear was assessed using the Child Fear Scale (CFS) during and after the procedure. The researchers performed pairwise comparisons between the study groups using the Bonferroni correction for statistical analyses. The study findings revealed that the TICK-B group had the lowest pain scores during the procedure and the TICK-B group and the cartoon watching group had significantly lower pain scores after the procedure, compared to the control group. Similarly, the TICK-B group had the lowest fear scores during the procedure, and the TICK-B group and the cartoon watching group had significantly lower fear scores after the procedure, compared to the control group. These results suggest that the TICK-B intervention was the most effective in reducing both pain and fear experienced by children during and after a cannulation procedure, compared to the other interventions and the control group. The cartoon watching group also showed significantly lower pain and fear scores compared to the control group, but to a lesser extent than the TICK-B group. The comprehensive data provided in this study contributes valuable insights into the efficacy of different non-pharmacological strategies in pediatric pain management. These findings have important implications for clinical practice, supporting the implementation of the TICK-B and cartoon watching interventions to alleviate the pain and fear associated with cannulation procedures in children. The well-designed study and robust statistical analyses enhance the reliability and interpretability of the results, which can guidkkke future investigations in this important field.