Effectiveness of distraction intervention to overcome pain and associated distress during painful procedures in children

If procedures like injections and vaccinations are made free from pain, overall opinion about hospitalization will change. Nonpharmacological techniques like distraction allows focus of client to be diverted away from pain. This part of preliminary study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of distraction in preventing or minimizing pain and behavioural distress among children while undergoing invasive intravenous procedures. Purpose: To assess and evaluate the intensity of pain and behavioural distress among children during invasive intravenous procedures with and without distraction technique and to determine the association between the intensity of pain, behavioural distress in children undergoing invasive intravenous procedures and selected variables. Method: An experimental approach with post test only control group design was used for the study. The sample for the study comprised of 24 children with age group of 3 - 12 years; 12 children for each experimental group and control group selected by purposive sampling with random assignment. Pain and behavioural distress were assessed using Revised Faces Pain Scale and Behavioural Distress Scale respectively. Findings: The results of this preliminary study showed that using distraction technique during invasive intravenous procedures reduces pain and pain associated behavioural distress among children caused due to invasive intravenous procedures.