NCT03366623

Procedural Pain in Children: Intervention With the Hospital Clown

Hospitalized Children's Pain Experience. Effect and Influence of Intervention With the Hospital Clown in Acute and Repeated Painful Procedures. A Mixed Method Study.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 111 (actual)
• Sponsor: Aalborg University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 4 Years – 15 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study evaluates the effect of an intervention with a hospital clown compared to standard care on pain experience for acute hospitalized children receiving venipuncture. Half of the children will receive an intervention with the hospital clown while the other half will receive standard care.

Detailed description

Background: Hospitalized children describe the pain associated with painful procedures as one of the worst experiences during hospitalization. These experiences can be traumatic for children and their families. Most children are acutely hospitalized with no chance to prepare the child for painful procedures, while others experience repeated hospitalizations. Previous negative pain experiences are known to have major consequences for future admissions and procedures. Therefore, there is a need for different interventions for pain relief. In 2004, hospital clowns became a part of the team on pediatric wards in Denmark. International studies have shown positive effects of hospital clowns on preoperative anxiety in children, but there is limited knowledge of the impact on the child's experience related to painful procedures. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the effect and impact of the hospital clown as a non-pharmacological intervention on hospitalized children's pain experience and ability to cope during painful procedures in both short and long-term treatment and care. Methods: A two-faced mixed methods study design with merging and connecting results and findings. 1. A prospective, randomized open-label trial to identify whether exposure to the hospital clown has an effect on pain experience in acute hospitalized children receiving venipuncture. 2. An ethnographic study to uncover the pain experience and ability to cope during painful procedures in short-term hospitalization. 3. An ethnographic study to uncover the influence related to repeated painful procedures, as well as uncover if a relationship may have a potential long-term impact.

Conditions

• Pain, Acute
• Venous Puncture
• Children, Adult

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Hospital clown	Presence of the hospital clown
BEHAVIORAL	No hospital clown intervention	Presence of pediatric nurses and biomedical laboratory technologists in the venipuncture procedure.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-04-18
• Primary completion: 2017-01-18
• Completion: 2017-01-18
• First posted: 2017-12-08
• Last updated: 2017-12-08