The impact of kaleidoscope on children’s pain and fear during sutures

Introduction

The pediatric emergency department can be a place of fear and pain during treatment. This study was to determine the effect of the kaleidoscope on the fear and pain levels of children aged 4–12 years admitted to the pediatric emergency department for suturing.

Method

This study was conducted as a randomized controlled experimental study. The sample size was calculated by taking into account the known score in the GPower 3.1.5 program. The sample size was calculated as 112 in total. Children with head or limb injuries were randomly assigned to their groups. Data were collected using “Information form”, “Children’s Fear Scale (CFS), Wong Baker Pain Scale, Kaleidoscope and Stopwatch”. The data were evaluated by percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square, t test, correlation analysis and Krusskal Wallis test in computerized environment.

Results

The majority of children were male (60.7 %) and the mean age was 7.75 ± 2.79 years. Demographic variables, fear and pain scores of the children were similar before the procedure. After the procedure, the mean fear score was 1.71 ± 1.27 for the kaleidoscope group and 3.23 ± 0.89 for the control group, and the difference between the groups was found to be significant (p < 0.01). When the difference between the groups was examined in terms of the pain status of the children after the procedure, it was observed that the pain level of the children in the kaleidoscope group (1.77 ± 1.12) was significantly lower than the pain level of the children in the control group (3.30 ± 0.91) (p < 0.05).

In conclusion, it was found that the use of kaleidoscope during suturing procedure decreased children’s fear and pain levels. Therefore, it is recommended that the use of kaleidoscope during suturing should be widespread.