Comparison of Two Different Methods in Reducing Pain and Fear Due to Dressing Change in 7-10 Years Old Children

INTRODUCTION: Aim: This randomized controlled study aims to analyze the effects virtual reality (VR) and carton distraction techniques pain due to dressing change and fair levels in children that underwent abdominal surgery.
METHODS: The study was conducted on 96 children between 7 and 10 years of age, who visited pediatric surgery department of Bağcılar Research and Training Hospital between 1 November 2018 and 30 November 2019. Personal Information Form on Children and Parents, Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale and Children’s Fear Scale were used for data collection. Due to dressing change, no intervention was made to the children in the first group whereas children in the second and third groups watched video with VR headset and cartoon from tablet, respectively. Pain severity and fear levels were self-assessed. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, Wilcoxon signed-rank, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U, Pearson’s chi-square and Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact tests were used for data analysis. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
RESULTS: Mean age of children was 8.58±1.13 and 56.3% (n=54) were male. Pain and fear scores due to dressing change were lower for the VR and carton distraction groups. Statistically significant difference between the control and the distraction groups stemmed from the VR distraction group (p<0.05).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study found that allowing children to watch video with VR headset due to dressing change is an effective way to distract attention and decrease pain and fear levels.