The impact of music, play, and pet therapies in managing pain and anxiety in paediatric patients in hospital: a rapid systematic review

Abstract

Background Hospitalized children face pain and anxiety associated with the environment and procedures. Objective This review aimed to assess the impact of music, play, pet and art therapies on pain and anxiety in hospitalized paediatric patients. RCTs assessing the impact of music, play, pet, and/or art therapies on pain and/or anxiety in hospitalized paediatric patients were eligible. Methods Database searching and citation screening was completed to identify studies. A narrative synthesis was used to summarize study findings and certainty of evidence was assessed using GRADE. Of the 761 documents identified, 29 were included spanning music (n = 15), play (n = 12), and pet (n = 3) therapies. Results A high certainty of evidence supported play in reducing pain and moderate certainty for music and pet. A moderate certainty of evidence supported music and play in reducing anxiety. Conclusion Complementary therapies utilized alongside conventional medical treatment may mitigate pain and anxiety in hospitalized paediatric patients.

Maternal cognitive and socioemotional caregiving with young children during hospitalization: a cross-sectional study from Pakistan

“…Lack of adequate family socioemotional coping skills due to nancial factors, and the unavailability of professional support staff for children and their families can further aggravate the stress [3,4]. In high-income countries, nursing and therapy staff offer play-and art-based interventions to alleviate the pediatric patient's suffering by distracting them from discomfort and anxiety [5][6][7][8] with simple, play-based activities such as storytelling, singing or coloring. Such interventions utilize processing strategies that allow children to temporarily forget or be distracted from their illness [9,10] and from this, children can learn to develop con dence, socioemotional skills and coping mechanisms for handling stress that could continue beyond the hospital [11].…”

Group‐based instrumental musical training to enhance resilience among school‐aged children from low‐income families: A pilot randomised waitlist controlled trial

“…Music‐based interventions, as an inexpensive, accessible and transformative approach, have been increasingly used to improve resilience and psychosocial outcomes among different paediatric populations, including paediatric cancer survivors (Cheung et al., 2019 ), children and adolescents with attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (Martin‐Moratinos et al., 2023 ) and autism spectrum disorder (Mayer‐Benarous et al., 2021 ), and hospitalised paediatric patients (Goren et al., 2023 ). Music‐based interventions have been found to have positive effects on psychosocial outcomes.…”