The Effect of Preoperative Training and Therapeutic Play on Children’s Anxiety, Fear, and Pain

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of education and therapeutic play applied in the preoperational period to decrease the anxiety, fear, and pain levels of children in the postoperative period.Methods: This study is a quasi-experimental and cross-sectional research. Three hundred children aged 7-12 years and suitable for the research criteria, referred to two pediatric hospitals in the northern region of Turkey for surgery, are the sample of the study. Each group (control group, training group, and training + play group) was composed of 100 children (N = 300). The experimental (training and training + play) groups were administered training and play activities on the operation day before undergoing surgery. The training group was administered training with video records on things to do before the surgery, the operating room environment, postoperative room and care, and things to do at home. In the training + game group, the child was trained on the day of surgery, and the researcher helped him or her play with the toys selected by the child from the toy basket provided by the researcher.Results: In this study, 88.7% of the children are boys, and 76 % of them are male children referred to the hospital for circumcision. At the end of the research, compared with control group children, children in the groups that were prepared for the operation with education and with education together with therapeutic play displayed decreased levels of anxiety and fear. This result is statistically significant (p < .001).

Play Therapy as an Intervention in Hospitalized Children: A Systematic Review

“…Other studies show that therapeutic games decreased anxiety in children who experienced the game session in the hospital environment. After the play sessions, children feel safer because they learn the environment and the procedures [26,27,30,33,34]. In some sessions, nurse techniques are simulated in the toys, which allowed the child to move from a passive to an active role, reducing the fear of these procedures [27,29] and establishing a positive child-nurse relationship [26,29,30].…”

The effect of nursing interventions with therapeutic play and video animations prepared with psychodrama technique in reducing fear, anxiety, and pain of children at male circumcision: A randomized controlled study

“…19 To prepare the children for surgical intervention, an educational video about the operating room and other interventions was shown, and the fear score before and after the surgical intervention decreased significantly. 20 Fear scores were also less determined in children who were shown a video that provided information about informative and interactive surgical intervention. 21 In this research, the fear of children in the puppet group before surgery was found to be lower in the second and third measurements compared to the animation group.…”

Hastanede Yatan Çocuklarda Yaratıcı Oyun Yöntemi ile Hastalık ve Hastane Kavramı: Niteliksel Bir Çalışma Hastanede Yatan Çocuk

“…Hastanede yatmanın çocuk üzerinde oluşturduğu majör stresörler arasında aileden ayrılma da yer almaktadır (1,2 (22). Bir başka çalışmada kullanılan terapötik oyunun çocuklarda oluşan anksiyete, korku ve ağrı düzeyini azaltmada etkili olduğu belirlenmiştir (23). Diğer bir çalışmada çocukların hastanede park, oyun odası, sinema odası, bilgisayar ve ilköğretim odası istedikleri yer almaktadır (10).…”