Background: Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Perception of pain among children is complex and procedural pain is a significant issue for pediatric patients. Diversion therapy is one of the most commonly used techniques in the Paediatric department for the deviation of attention away from the painful procedures in order to reduce the pain. Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of cartoon films as a distraction method in decreasing pain among children undergoing venipuncture thereby enhancing the cooperation in children during venipuncture. Objectives: 1) To evaluate the effect of cartoon films on pain among children during venipuncture 2) To find out the association between pain perception and selected socio demographic variables. Design: This was a quasi-experimental posttest only design with control group among 80 children (40 in the experimental group and 40 in the control group) undergoing venipuncture in selected hospital, Kochi. The FLACC observational pain scale and Numerical rating scale were used for the pain assessment. Experimental group was given passive distraction in the form of cartoon movies during venipuncture whereas control group was not. Intervention was done 5 minutes before the initiation of procedure, during procedure and till 5 minutes of completion of procedure. Results: There was a significant decrease in pain level among experimental group in comparison to the control group. Conclusion: Cartoon films as a method of distraction are effective in reducing pain among children undergoing venipuncture.
Dr. Sunil Moothedath*1, Ms. Sneha Mary E.F.2, Ms. Sophiya Thomas3 (Wed,) studied this question.